The dog is man’s best friend and is also a reliable companion for many of the Elderly People. However, dogs need caring and instead of being chained down in a corner of the house or in its kennel, it has to excise its limbs. It has to go for walks and, when its owner is tied down by age and unable to take it out for walks, the need arises for a dog walker.
That is the new upcoming profession and, as a report from the New York-based Conference Board suggests, walking dogs for a living is a better option as compared to teaching kids and could be in the limelight for the next decade’s labour market.
The role of the dog walker
The focus of the report is on demographics related to aging of the population and a drop in fertility rates. The report says that the elderly people would spend more money on pets. This is because their children would have left them for better prospects elsewhere and, to get over the loneliness, the elders would invest in pets and shower their blessings on dogs.
It is here that the dog walker would play a vital role because the elders may not be physically fit to take their pets out for walks and would have to depend on an outside agency. In fact, dog walking could be a better option compared to the teaching profession because the potential student population that consists of the group from five to 24 would be growing at a very slow rate due to modern concept of small families.
This is one example of the changing pattern of consumer demand over the next 10 years.
What the future holds in store
The picture that is painted for the next decade is grim. The study suggests that expenses on health-care would increase by nearly 50 percent for Americans in the age group of 70 and 84. Simultaneously, there would be a steep rise in them spending on books, newspapers and other reading.
The elderly people would be forced to spend more on home repairs for obvious reasons, namely deterioration of their physical abilities. Other sectors likely to feel the pinch of the aging population are the restaurants and the apparel sector – these have less charm for the aged.
