US lawmakers are well-known for their saucy and colorful comparisons. Yet, oftentimes they reflect quite well the brutal reality. Nowadays, the world is facing rapid aging of the population. The US is very concerned about this issue. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said that "America's aging demographics were going to hit the country 'like a ton of bricks'.

The secretary stressed that currently 16% of the US population of 328 million people, or 54 million, are over the age of 65. By 2030, that number will increase to 74 million people. In addition, the number of people over the age of 85 is growing rapidly. Therefore, the problem of the aging population is getting more serious every year. The US takes great care of its senior citizens. It provides them with financial support and gives them many other benefits. However, as the number of senior citizens is rising, the government will have to increase federal aid. Naturally, it may increase the burden on the federal budget even more. In the next 10 years, the US authorities plan to allocate $400 billion to secure $400 billion in spending for at-home care for the elderly and disabled. At the same time, politicians cannot reach an agreement on the issue of increasing medical care costs.

Raimondo also said that "1.5 million women still had not returned to the workforce after exiting during the pandemic to care for children whose schools had closed, and elderly and disabled relatives." "We can't afford for half of our workforce - women - to be held back and held out of the workforce because they can't get excellent and adequate childcare or eldercare. Just giving those women a raise would be a huge boost to our economy ... and a huge drag on the economy if we don't get it done," Raimondo said.