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Old-Age Dependency
The old-age dependency ratio is a common measure of population aging. This measure
represents the size of the older population relative to the size of the population that could be
expected to pay taxes to support benefits for a retired population (Atchley and Barusch 2004, 27).
Specifically, it is expressed as the number of people age 65 and older per 100 people of working
age. For example, a ratio of .25 would mean that, in a given country at a given point in time,
there are approximately four workers for every one retiree, if there were four workers for every
two retirees the ratio would equal .50. We use the conventional ages 15 to 64 to define the
“working age population” (see Quadagno 2005) and calculate the old-age dependency ratio using
2004 population estimates as provided in the Central Intelligence Agency World Factbook (2004).
Presumably, political decision makers and the public recognize the considerable financial
burden of prolonging the lives of older citizens. Under the scenario of an aging population there
may be financial incentives to allow for the early termination of life. We know, for example, that
the median age of all patients that chose PAS in Oregon in 2001 was 68 (???? 2002). Also,
although Dutch law allows for persons ages 12-16 to request euthanasia with parental consent
and for persons ages 16 to 18 years of age to do so without parental consent (Cohen-Almagor
2002), best estimates are that these ages account for only 0.2 percent of all deaths per year in
The Netherlands (Emanuel 2001). In all, we expect the aged to be most inclined to avail
themselves of PAS. So, this economic consideration prompts us to hypothesize that a high old
age dependency ratio will be associated with the consideration and adoption of PAS legislation.
Religious Pluralism
Another factor that we include in this exploration of variables hypothesized to be
associated with PAS is an indicator of religious pluralism. In all eighteen of the countries in our
sample, Christianity is the prevailing religion. Given the attendant religious underpinnings of most
laws regarding what is considered legitimate and illegitimate death, we expect a positive
association between religiosity and PAS. We contend that greater religious secularization will
comport with an increased societal emphasis on self-determinism. In turn, we would expect this
emphasis on personal choice to be reflected in end-of-life decisions.
Convention