17 Understanding the Elderly

epgp books

 

1. LEARNING OUTCOMES

  • To develop an understanding about elderly persons and old age from a legal perspective.
  • To provide an understanding of the statistical profile of the elderly both in India as well as at the international level.

2. INTRODUCTION

Each of us is entitled to various rights which are fundamental to human existence. These rights do not change as one grows older. In other words, older people as with every other section of the population have human rights as they are inherent to all human beings. Nevertheless, there has not been much dialogue and articulation of the rights of older people either nationally or internationally. Not very long ago, the issue of ageing was considered a matter of importance for only a handful of countries. However, in recent years, there have been significant advocacy efforts calling for enhanced international thinking and action on the human rights of older persons. With the increase in number of aged persons in the recent years, has shed light on the lack of adequate protection mechanisms, and on the existing gaps in policies and programmes to address the situation of older persons. Various stakeholders have called for more visibility and increased use of international human rights standards to address the dire situation of millions of older people around the world.

3. WHO IS AN OLD/ ELDERLY PERSON?

“Old Age” is usually associated with declining faculties, both mental and physical, and a reduction in social commitments (including sport participation) of any person. The precise onset of old age varies culturally and historically. With the increasing deliberations over the issue of the rights of the elderly, there arose a need to define old age so as to enable this portion of the populace to avail the benefits that are available to them. However, till date, no commonly agreed definition of old age exists. Older persons do not represent a homogeneous group. The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe in its Recommendation No. R(94)9 Concerning Elderly People has asserted that “Ageing is a process: being old depends on the individual’s circumstances and the wider environment and it is useless to attempt to define exactly when old age begins.”

The definition of old age can be attempted based on three aspects:

Chronological age – A person is said to have attained old age based on chronology or the number of years of age he has completed. The old age based on chronology is usually defined by the State.

Change in social role – the roles of a person in the society changes over a period of time. Accordingly, whether a person has attained old age or not can be determined based on his social roles. For example, change in work patterns, adult status of children, menopause etc.

Change in capabilities – The change in the capabilities of individuals also assists in determining the developmental stage of individuals. For instance, senility, change in physical characteristics like frailty and so on are some of the factors in defining old age.

However, it is widely accepted that using a chronological age to define older people has a practical advantage, as it gives clarity to whom a specific policy or law targets. On the other hand, it also entails the disadvantage that setting an age threshold may differ from country to country and from one context to another. Moreover, biological age does not always coincide with chronological age of a person. Further, the age structure of the population also plays a role as to how old age is perceived.

3.1. LEGAL DEFINITION OF OLD AGE/ ELDERLY PERSON

Although there are commonly used definitions of old age, there is no general agreement on the age at which a person becomes old. Lacking a standard definition acceptable to all circumstances, the age at which a person becomes eligible for statutory and occupational retirement pensions has become the default definition in many instances. The ages of 60 and 65 years are often used, despite its arbitrary nature, for which the origins and surrounding debates can be followed from the end of the 1800’s through the mid 1900’s. In the background of the arbitrariness surrounding the definition of old age several attempts have been made in understanding rather than rigidly defining old age mainly for the purposes of human rights.

  • United Nations: Owing to the varied definitions of old age between countries and over time, the United Nations has agreed that 60+ years may be usually denoted as old age though no standard criterion has been formally adopted and this was the first attempt to define old age at the international level.
  • General Comment No. 6 of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: The General Comment defines older people as those persons aged 60 years and above.
  • World Health Organisation: For its study of old age in Africa under the MDS Project, WHO identified 50 years as the beginning of old age. At the same time, it recognized that the developing world often defines old age, not by years, but by new roles, loss of previous roles, or inability to make active contribution to society.
  • The Regional Office for Europe of the World Health Organisation: The European Regional Office in its Report on Preventing Older Maltreatment, 2011 has defined older maltreatment as regards “people aged 60 years and older”.
  • Council of Europe recommendation on the promotion of human rights of older persons: With the changing perceptions of old age in the modern society the Council of Europe followed an illustrative approach in defining old age in its Recommendation on the Promotion of Human Rights of Older Persons.

“The present recommendation applies to persons whose older age constitutes, alone or in interaction with other factors, including perceptions and attitudes, a barrier to the full enjoyment of their human rights and fundamental freedoms and their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis.”

The Recommendation further takes note that the member States of the Council of Europe have identified chronological ages at national level whereby persons enjoy specific rights and advantages by reason of their older age.

Thus, there exist varied perceptions as to who are considered as old/ elderly persons and no standard definition exists at the international level. The definitions vary based on the social construct and the wider environment of the concerned region along with the corresponding demography of population. Adopting a dynamic concept of age that reflects the specific needs of older people and the diminishing life chances they are facing is the need of the hour.

DEFINING OLD

 

“The ageing process is, of course, a biological reality which has its own dynamic, largely beyond human control. However, it is also subject to the constructions by which each society makes sense of old age. In the developed world, chronological time plays a paramount role. The age of 60 or 65 years, roughly equivalent to retirement ages in most developed countries, is said to be the beginning of old age. In many parts of the developing world, chronological time has little or no importance in the meaning of old age. Other socially constructed meanings of age are more significant, such as the roles assigned to older people; in some cases it is the loss of roles accompanying physical decline which are significant in defining old age. Thus, in contrast to the chronological milestones which mark life stages in the developed world, old age in many developing countries is seen to begin at the point when active contribution is no longer possible.”

Gorman M. Development and the rights of older people; In: Randel J, et al., eds. The ageing and development report: poverty, independence and the world’s older people. London, Earthscan Publications Ltd., 1999: 3-21.

3.2. DEFINITION OF OLD AGE/ ELDERLY PERSON IN INDIA – “SENIOR CITIZEN”

The National Human Rights Commission of India perceives old age as a social construct, rather than a biological stage. However, for the purposes of entitlement to various benefits provided by the Government to the elderly people, a legal definition of Old/ Elderly Persons has been provided under the terminology of “Senior Citizens”.

  • National Policy for Older Persons, 1999: The National Policy for Older Persons formulated in the year 1999 by the Government of India identified that any person who has attained the age of 60 years or above as an old/ elderly person.
  • Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007: According to Section 2(h) of the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007, “Senior Citizen means any person being a citizen of India, who has attained the age of sixty years or above”.

Hence, in the Indian context, any person who has attained the age of 60 years or above is a “Senior Citizen” i.e., an old/ elderly person.

4. POPULATION AGEING

Population ageing is a process by which the proportion of older persons in the total population increases. The population of the older persons in the total populace is proportionately higher in this phenomenon.

The twentieth century witnessed significant demographic transitions owing to the increased progress in research, science and technology. The advances in health care and rapid economic development have resulted in reduced fertility and increased life expectancy. Consequently, the world population has been experiencing significant ageing. This change in demographic trend is ongoing and the world population is experiencing significant ageing since the mid-twentieth century. Population ageing was advanced at the time of the International Conference on Population and Development in 1994 in Cairo, Egypt and the Second World Assembly on Ageing, which took place in Madrid, Spain, in 2002. According to the World Ageing Report, 2013, Ageing had started earlier in the more developed regions and was beginning to take place in some developing countries and was becoming more evident at the global scale during the 1994 conference. However, intensity and depth of ageing will vary considerably among countries and regions thought, the phenomenon is common throughout.

4.1. WORLD POPULATION

The United Nations Population Division produces global population projections revised every two years. The population statistics and projections of UN provide a source for demographic trends in a global perspective. The latest population projections were released in 2012 – World Population Prospects: The 2012 Revision, the twenty-third round of the official United Nations population estimates and projections prepared biennially by the Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the Secretariat.

Based on the revised population projections of 2012, the United Nations released a World Ageing Report in the year 2013 updating all the previous editions. The demographic trends presented below are based on these reports.

Some of the major findings of the World Ageing Report, 2013 are as follows:

The global share of older people (aged 60 years or over) increased from 9.2 per cent in 1990 to 11.7 per cent in 2013 and will continue to grow as a proportion of the world population, reaching 21.1 per cent by 2050. Globally, the number of older persons (aged 60 years or over) is expected to more than double, from 841 million people in 2013 to more than 2 billion in 2050. The United Nations has estimated the elderly population to be 12.3% of the total world population as on July, 2015.

  • Older persons are projected to exceed the number of children for the first time in 2047.
  • The process of population ageing has resulted in the shifting of the median age. Globally, the median age moved from 24 years in 1950 to 29 years in 2010, and will continue to increase to 36 years in 2050.
  • Not only is the population ageing. The older population is itself ageing. Globally, the share of older persons aged 80 years or over was 14 per cent of the older population (60 years and above) in 2013 and is projected to reach 19 per cent in 2050. If this projection is realized, there will be around 392 million persons aged 80 years or over by 2050, more than three times the present.
  • Most developed countries already have aged population. Nevertheless, the older population is growing faster in less developed countries of the world compared to the more developed countries and by 2050, nearly 8 in 10 of the world’s older population will live in the less developed regions.
  • There is a significant difference in the sex-ratio of the older population with the predominance of women within the aged population. Globally, there were 85 men per 100 women in the age group of 60 years and above and 61 men per 100 women in the age group of 80 years and above, in 2013. The sex ratios are expected to increase moderately during the next several decades.
  • Globally, 40 per cent of older persons aged 60 years or over live independently, that is to say, alone or with their spouse only. Independent living is far more common in the developed countries, where about three quarters of older persons live independently, compared with only a quarter in developing countries and one eighth in the least developed countries.
  • Many older persons still need to work, especially in developing countries. In 2010, the labour force participation of persons aged 65 years or over was around 31 per cent in the less developed regions and 8 per cent in the more developed regions. While the participation of older men in labour force is decreasing in the less developed regions, it is increasing the more developed regions. However, men predominate the labour force of the older population.
  • Older people are the world’s fastest-growing age group. In 2014, the annual growth rate for the population aged 60 years or older will be almost triple the growth rate for the population as a whole. In absolute terms, the number of people aged 60 years or older has almost doubled between 1994 and 2014, and people in this age group now outnumber children under the age of 5.

The projections of the older population of the world in 2013 can be summarised as follows:

 

Region-wise Percentage of Older Population (60 years and above)

 

4.2. INDIAN POPULATION

Like all around the world, the populace in India is also undergoing the process of ageing. According to the facts of the Population Census conducted in 2011 under the authority of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, the population of older persons (60 years and above) has increased from 7.7% in 2001 to 8% of the total Indian population in 2011. Recently, the United Nations has estimated that 8.9% of total Indian population comprises of the elderly as on July, 2015.

A brief account of the facts of the 2011 Population Census as released by the Government of India is as follows:

  • 8% of the total Indian population comprises of Older Persons.
  • The population of older women is more compared to older men with the sex ratio of 97 men per 100 women. While older women constitute around 8.98% of the total Indian population, older men account for 8.19% of the total population. Further, within the older population, women constitute 51% while men amount to 49%.
  • Like the world, even in India the older population itself is undergoing the process of ageing. 10.87% of the total older population (60 years and above) of India comprise of the very old (80 years and above).

PERCENTAGE OF OLDER POPULATION IN INDIA

 

5. SUMMARY

Any person who has attained the age of 60 years or above is said to be an older or elderly person or a senior citizen (in Indian context) both universally as well as domestically. With the advancement in science and technology, progress in medical and health care a decline is seen in the fertility and mortality rates which in turn have led to the increase in the population of the older persons. Consequently, the population is ageing both at the domestic as well as global levels. Further, the older population is itself ageing with the growing numbers of the very old (80 years and above).

The phenomenon of population ageing brings with it a number of challenges. Hence, there is a need to recognise and accord legal protection to the rights of the elderly to enable them to enjoy their human rights on an equal basis with others.

you can view video on Understanding the Elderly

Reference

  • As far back as 1875, in Britain, the Friendly Societies Act, enacted the definition of old age as, “any age after 50”, yet pension schemes mostly used age 60 or 65 years for eligibility. (Roebuck, 1979).
  • Declaration on Social Progress and Development, 1969 was the first international human rights document to include the term old age.
  • When Does Old Age Begin?: The Evolution of the English Definition, Journal of Social History (1979) 12 (3): 416-428
  • Personal Correspondence, January 2001, Marybeth Weinberger, UN – Proposed Working Definition of an Older Person in Africa for the MDS Project, WHO
  • Human Rights of Older People: Universal and Regional Legal Perspectives, by Claudia Martin, Diego Rodríguez-Pinzón, Bethany Brown
  • World Population Ageing 2013 by United Nations http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/documents/ageing/Data/WorldPopulationAgeingRe port2013.pdf
  • Population Ageing in India, by G. Giridhar, K. M. Sathyanarayana, K. S. James, Moneer Alam, Sanjay Kumar, Cambridge University Press, 2014
  • Report on the Status of Elderly in Select States of India, 2011 http://countryoffice.unfpa.org/india/drive/AgeingReport_2012_F.pdf
  • Situational Analysis of Elderly in India
  • http://esa.un.org/unpd/wpp/
  • http://www.un.org/en/development/desa/population/publications/pdf/trends/Conc ise%20Report%20on%20the%20World%20Population%20Situation%202014/en.pdf
  • https://www.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/resource-pdf/UNFPA-Report- Chapter1.pdf
  • http://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011census/population_enumeration.html
  • http://ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/publications/european_economy/2014/pdf/ee8_en.pdf
  • http://www.un.org/esa/population/publications/worldageing19502050/pdf/90chapteriv.pdf