Research on Potential Problems

Here are the research done on the 10 potential problems.

• Research on Potential Problem 1: 

Based on Potential Problem 1, we have derived that many people would be unhappy because they have to pay exorbitant taxes to support the Elderly Special Rights Act. There are many people in the world already unhappy because of the high taxes they have to pay. One example is in Massachusetts, America. "Many people in Massachusetts are becoming very confused and unhappy because of higher health care costs in their state because of Obamacare taxes." This unhappiness may lead to strikes, as we can see from the Argentinian truckers' union strike against the government because of high taxes in 2012. This shows that if people are unhappy with certain policies, they may go on strike and cause problems.

References: http://thepunditpress.com/2014/01/03/massachusetts-residents-unhappy-with-higher-costs-because-of-obamacare-taxes/ http://www.idstrac.com/Blog/argentinian-truckers-union-plans-strike-against-high-taxes/

• Research on Potential Problem 2:

Based on Potential Problem 2, we have derived that many young people will not want to live in Singapore because of high taxes, and elderly from other countries will want to migrate to Singapore to enjoy such privileges, causing Singapore to become an aging population. One example takes place in California, America. "California is one of eight states that have established a “millionaire tax” in recent years. The popular appeal of these taxes is that they raise revenue from those seen to have greater ability to pay a higher rate on the highest portion of their incomes. The concern, however, is that millionaire taxes may lead to millionaire migration, with potentially serious loss of revenues for the state." This shows that people are willing to migrate if the taxes imposed on them are very high, and if they do migrate, the country or city will incur heavy losses.

Reference: https://web.stanford.edu/group/scspi/_media/working_papers/Varner-Young_Millionaire_Migration_in_CA.pdf

• Research on Potential Problem 3:

Based on Potential Problem 3, we have derived that allowing elderly over the age of 80 to drive will cause them to jeopardise the safety of other road users and cause traffic jams too. This will become a major problem as the roads will not be safe for users and accidents would occur almost all the time. "According to a Carnegie Mellon University study, the fatality rate for drivers 85 and over is four times higher than it is for teenagers, who are usually pegged as our most reckless drivers. Two examples include an 86-year-old man who drove his automobile into a crowded farmers’ market in California, killing 10 people. And in one recent year in Florida - the U.S. state with the largest per capita elderly population - drivers over 80 plowed into a Chinese restaurant, post office and state official’s office." This shows that if the elderly are allowed to drive they will cause many road accidents and even cause fatalities to the innocent people, as shown from this study.

Reference: http://www.voanews.com/content/elderly-drivers-cause-more-deadly-crashes-than-teens-129298768/162760.html

• Research on Potential Problem 4:

Based on Potential Problem 4, we have derived that the elderly will indirectly cause a lack of housing in Singapore, because of the fact that they have subsidies when buying a house. This will become a problem as there is already a lack of land in Singapore for housing now, and it could cause the price of land in Singapore to increase, making people want to migrate to another country as the cost of living is cheaper there, and people may also choose not to have children as the cost of living is too high, causing an aging population in Singapore. "In the recent, Singapore is facing the problem of housing shortage as well as high housing prices. Due to the limited land supply in Singapore, the demand for public housing has been increasing at a faster rate than the supply of public housing, resulting in sky high prices for public housing." As you can see, there is already a lack of land for housing in Singapore now, and if the elderly keep buying houses with subsidies, there will be no more land left for housing in the year 2050 and beyond. "Singapore land and housing prices are especially high, which makes it very costly to have a family with three kids."

reference: http://housingproblemsinthe21stcentury.blogspot.sg/2012/04/singapore-housing.html / http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2013/12/why-does-singapore-have-such-a-low-birth-rate.html

• Research on Potential Problem 5:

Based on Potential Problem 5, we have derived that people between the ages of 60 to 80, who are not considered elderly enough, may face certain problems in life, but do not get help from the government, causing them to have lots of stress resulting in deaths. "A research team led by Carnegie Mellon University's Sheldon Cohen has found that chronic psychological stress is associated with the body losing its ability to regulate the inflammatory response." This shows that stress can wreck havoc in the body, even causing deaths in most cases.

Reference: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/04/120402162546.htm

• Research on Potential Problem 6: 

Based on Potential Problem 6, we have derived that the elderly will be easily exploited by crime syndicates just because they cannot sentenced to jail. This will be a problem as Singapore could become a country filled with crimes in the year 2050 and beyond. "Sixteen people have been arrested and seven of them charged with fraud after allegedly targeting elderly and vulnerable people in a £1million rogue trading scam." This shows that the elderly are very vulnerable and are easily cheated by people as they are gullible. Crime syndicates would exploit them easily.

Reference: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2348255/Organised-gang-conned-1million-elderly-vulnerable-people-going-homes-offering-carry-repairs.html

• Research on Potential Problem 7: 

Based on Potential Problem 7, we have derived that the working citizens would be unhappy and discriminate against the elderly because they have special benefits. "Thousands of elderly people are dying unnecessarily early because ‘despicable’ age discrimination in the NHS is denying them treatment for cancer, a charity has warned." This shows that there already are ageists in the society who discriminate the elderly, causing them unnecessary problems.

Reference: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/9165629/Elderly-dying-due-to-despicable-age-discrimination-in-NHS.html

• Research on Potential Problem 8:

Based on Potential Problem 8, we have derived that the government would have an unstable fund system due to them giving the elderly many benefits. "The national account to fund America’s highway construction and other transportation is nearly empty. The revenues that go into the Highway Trust Fund, which come from a federal 18.4 cent per gallon tax on gasoline, are expected to dip below $4 billion in July." This shows that if the government uses too much funds on one aspect, other aspects would be neglected and once they realize it might be too late.

Reference: http://blogs.reuters.com/muniland/2014/06/25/americas-unstable-road-funding/

• Research on Potential Problem 9:

Based on Potential Problem 9, we have derived that the elderly might rely too much on the government because they give the elderly too much benefits, resulting in elderly being unable to take care of themselves and turning to the government in times of need. "Occasionally individuals lose their complete sense of competence when they become dependent on others." This shows that the elderly will become very vulnerable if the government do not support them in the future.

Reference: http://www.medrounds.org/encyclopedia-of-aging/2006/01/dependence.html

• Research on Potential Problem 10: 

Based on Potential Problem 10, we have derived that people will bring along the elderly to take the taxi because there will be subsidies, causing a large number of taxis on the road and making the efficiency of the transport system decrease."The implementation of government subsidies for public transport will definitely affect the way the public transport service is provided. I feel that public transport should not be completely subsidized, and a good balance between nationalization and private monopoly should be found." This shows that subsidies will cause more people taking transport causing a transport system with decrease in efficiency.

Reference: http://www.singapolitics.sg/big-quiz/transport/transport-essay-10