Nearly 65% of elders are financially insecure with their current income and access to savings and investments, according to the HelpAge India report, ‘Ageing in India: Exploring Preparedness & Response to Care Challenges’, which was released recently to commemorate ‘World Elder Abuse Awareness Day’ on June 15.
According to the report, high illiteracy levels further aggravated the situation, with around 40% of the elderly who are illiterate reporting not having access to any income sources in comparison to 29% of literate respondents. The study was conducted across 20 tier I and tier II cities in 10 states, and a total of 5,169 elders and 1,333 caregivers were surveyed.
The report reveals that a majority of India’s elders are not prepared for their later years, with high dependency on others for a dignified living. The financial insufficiency amongst elders showed in how one in every three elders did not have any income in the past year, more amongst women (38%) than men (27%). 32 % elderly or their spouses have an annual income of less than ₹50,000, and only 29% reported having access to social security schemes like old-age pension/contributory pension/provident fund.
Only around 15% of elderly persons reported currently working, with 24% elderly males and only 7% elderly females reporting work participation. The work participation of older people varied marginally with their place of residence, tier I cities (17%) and tier II cities (14%).
A small proportion of older people (29%) reported having access to social security schemes like old-age pension/contributory pension/provident fund. As many as 35% of older people from the SEC B categories reported having pensions, compared to 20% of the elderly from the Socio-Economic Category (SEC C).
On the health front, more than half of older people (52%) reported facing at least one challenge related to primary or instrumental activities of daily living. As many as 54% are suffering from two or more Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs).
Most of the elderly persons (79%) visited government hospitals/clinics/PHCs in the last year. Almost half (47%) of the super senior citizens that is, those above 80 years, who visited these government hospitals/clinics had no personal income. “It is safe to assume that monetary constraints did not allow them to visit any private healthcare facilities,” the report explained.
One in three elderly people reported no income in the past year. Around 31% of those in the 60-69 age group, 36% of those in the 71–79 age group, and 37% of those 80 years and above reported ‘No income’ in the past year.
“The report highlights the lack of age preparedness, especially among the ‘missing middle’, who don’t fall under most government schemes and have meagre savings for their later years. The ecosystem is not adequately developed to look after their needs in terms of care, health, financial and digital inclusion. Therefore, we urgently need to tailor programmes and services specifically for the elderly, particularly the disadvantaged,” said Anupama Datta, Head-Policy Research & Advocacy, HelpAge India.
Highlights
* Close to two-third (65%) of respondents reported that they are financially not secure with their current income and access to savings and investments. Only around 29% of elderly persons reported that they receive financial support from their family members.
* A little less than half of all respondents (48%) were diagnosed with hypertension or high blood pressure, and a similar proportion of respondents (43%) also suffered from diabetes.
* Access to healthcare — Most older adults (79%) visited government hospitals/clinics/ PHCs in the last year, and half of the elderly respondents have visited private hospitals/ clinics.
* Only 31% elderly persons reported access to health insurance. 33% elderly male and 29% elderly female were covered.
* When older people were bedridden, most reported that their spouses or children took care of them in this situation. A higher percentage of elderly were staying with their spouse and children in Tier II cities (66%) as compared to Tier I cities (57%) is reflected in the pattern of caregiving.
* Around 29% of the caregivers reported physical challenges in providing care to the elderly person — 36% of female caregivers and 24% of male caregivers reported this.
* Elder Abuse - 7% of elderly respondents faced this issue, and 5% of respondents declined to respond to this question. No variation in the reported pattern of elder abuse was found across the gender and age groups of the respondents.
* On the digital empowerment front, 59% of elders had no access to digital devices. The most common device among those who did use it was a smartphone.
* Access to digital devices dropped significantly with increasing age, with only 26% of those over 80 reporting having access to any digital device.
* Of those using digital devices, 34% of all elderly surveyed used them for entertainment and social media regularly, very often, or sometimes.
