The growth of the aging population will cause greater demands on the federal government, which finances Social Security and Medicare. Decreases in the youth population cannot be used to balance the pressures on the federal budget, however, because the lesser workload will be felt by the state and local governments, as providers of education.

The paragraph best supports the statement that

some programs are designed to vary by geographical area and so respond to local as well as national needs and circumstances.

population changes have a different impact on the various levels of government.

population statistics are among the less certain benchmarks to use in assessing future changes in social programs.

population fluctuations have a greater impact on federal programs than on state or local ones because of the proportionately larger budget and scope of federal programs.

changes in the size of any population group have an equally strong impact on the social programs at all levels of government.