- The report, titled as Caring for Our Elders Institutional Responses-India Ageing Report 2023 has been released by the International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS) and United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
Highlights of the Report:-
- The report shows that India is likely to have more elderly people than children (aged 0 to 15 years) by 2046.
- By the end of the century, the elderly will constitute over 36% of the total population of India.
- As of July 1, 2022, the number of people above 60 years of age in India was 149 million which was about 10.5% of total population;
- By 2050, 20.8% or 347 million Indians will be senior citizens, amounting to 36%.
- The share in the population of those aged between 15 and 59 will see a dip by 2045.
- The population of people aged above 80 years will grow at a rate of around 279% between 2022 and 2050.
- Over 40% of elderly in India are in the poorest wealth quintile.
- 18.7% of the elderly don't have a source of income.
- The report finds that females in India have higher life expectancy at 19 more years after 60 years of age, as compared to males at 17.5 years.
- In Himachal Pradesh and Kerala, women at 60 years have a life expectancy of 23 and 22 years, respectively, which is four years greater than men at 60 years in these states, as compared to the national average of only 1.5 years.
- According to the report in 1991, there were 931 elderly women per 1,000 men, but by 2031, there will be 951 men for 1,078 women.
- Hence, women will make up a larger portion of the elderly population.
Challenges of Future:-
- The report also highlights some challenges that India need to tackle in the face of this:
- There could be higher levels of widowhood, sociocultural and economic dependency, and loneliness among elderly women.
- A high proportion of rural population of the elderly left without an adequate support system.
- Income insecurity, lack of access to adequate and quality healthcare and isolation are more acute for the rural elderly than their urban counterparts.
- There is a significant inter-State variation in absolute levels and growth of elderly population.
- The disaster preparedness plans of government towards the older persons is still to be given special focus. For example, during COVID-19 pandemic, there were deficiency of public healthcare facilities for elder ones.
- There is a lack of credible data on various issues related to elderly in India.
Way Forward:-
- The government need to work on increasing awareness about schemes for older persons and focus on facilitating in-situ ageing to the extent possible.
- The elderly self-help groups should be created to provide people environment of intergenerational households.
- The government can tie up with non-governmental organizations (NGO) in elder care.
Source - Down To Earth & The Hindu