Growing old

The world celebrated Universal Children’s Day and the Elders’ Day on October 1. The fact that both these events fall on the same day may be a coincidence, but the message is clear: today’s children are tomorrow’s elders. Indeed, much of the world’s population will be elders around 80 years from now.

We also know that not every country is good to grow old in. Some countries have great facilities and prospects for the aged, while some others do not provide enough for them to be productive in the evening of their lives. Now we have got a picture of what is like growing old in a range of countries, thanks to the Global AgeWatch Index, an assessment of quality of life for people of 60 and over, based on income security, health and living environment from the HelpAge International Network.

Ageing is widely seen as a First World phenomenon, but it is in fact a global issue. Much of the global longevity revolution is down to falling infant death rates. China already has more old people than any other country, and will probably have 150 million people over 75 by mid-century. Medical advances, better healthcare facilities, a generally better quality of life and effective support services for the elderly have contributed to this situation in most countries.

It is a global concern because old people tend to have a worse quality of life in poor countries. The index predicts that as the developing world ages, millions face a bleak old age. Afghanistan is the worst place among those surveyed to be old, followed by Mozambique and the Palestinian territories.

Norway is the most age-friendly, then Sweden and Switzerland. Sri Lanka was placed 25th out of the 96 countries surveyed, which is the best in South Asia. Sri Lanka has scored very well in terms of three sub-indicators – social connectivity, safety and civic freedom.

Life span

Worldwide, life expectancy has doubled in the past half century to 66 years. A century ago, most people could only expect to live to 47; now fewer than a dozen nations do worse than that.

The future life span of those who make it to 60 is also rising fast – in both rich and poor nations. “On average a woman aged 60 today can expect to live until she is 82,” says the report. Men can expect to reach 79 years.

Development alone is not a factor - being old in booming Turkey is as bad as it is in relatively poor Cambodia. Mexico, a poorer nation than Turkey but with far superior pension provisions, is now a better place to be old than Italy or Portugal, both of which are developed countries in Europe, albeit with financial problems of varying degrees.

In fact, even in Sri Lanka, the Government pension scheme has been one reason for the relatively independent nature of many elderly persons.

As the world ages, hundreds of millions face a bleak old age, and will be dependent on their children, says the Centre for Research on Ageing at the University of Southampton, UK, which helped compile the index. However, not all children can look after their parents, strictly in a financial sense. In most developing countries, the parent-children bond is so strong that both sides care for each other despite any financial troubles they may have.

However, in low-and middle-income countries, only one in four people over 65 receives a pension. And despite generally living longer, women are less likely to get a pension than men.

The biggest obstacle seems to be the lack of opportunities in many societies for older people to be productive.

With younger job seekers applying pressure from the bottom end of the employment ladder, there is often no gainful employment for the elderly once they retire from any formal job. If they have some sort of productive work, they can be more financially secure regardless of whether they have a pension or not. And with technology such as telecommuting, they need not report to an office for work, thus reducing any mobility problems.

The lack of such opportunities for productive work leaves ageing populations vulnerable, dependent and far less able to contribute to society than they might otherwise be. A recent German study found that, properly looked after, the old could be a boon to societies – a source of wisdom and experience in the workplace and elsewhere.

Positive aspects

As HelpAge says, most societies have been slow to embrace the positive aspects of longevity and to see older people as a resource. If that is accomplished, elderly people will have extended working careers as well as more self-reliant, healthy and independent living. Most people are able to work till 70-75 and should be given that chance, at least in vocations that do not demand excessive physical exertion.

If you think that caring for people past the age of 60 is hard enough, the thought of people living until they reach 150 will surely be even more difficult to digest.Yes, there is a school of thought that the first person who could live to 150 has already been born. With anti-ageing medicines, surgical implants of every kind and much better living conditions, it is not far off the mark.

It will be an altogether new challenge if some people live to celebrate their 150th birthday. The challenge here is to ensure that such people reflect a physical age of say, 60, even if they are 150.

In the same breath, some scientists are already talking about that other holy grail of science - immortality. The consequences of such an achievement, though momentous, are mind-boggling to say the least and deserve to be written about in a separate article.

In the meantime, many countries, including Sri Lanka, have to grapple with the problem of a rapidly ageing population whose needs have to be met amidst various constraints.

Science will only have some of the answers - Governments and the society have to find answers to the rest of the questions posed by the silver generation.