Age of Transition: Elderly Population Growing in India

Age of Transition: Elderly Population Growing in India

On 14 December 1990, the UN General Assembly designated 1 October as the International Day of Older Persons. The objective was to respond to the opportunities and challenges of the growing population of those above 60 years and to develop an integrated society for all ages.

According to global statistics, almost 700 million people are now over the age of 60. By 2050, two billion people (20% of the world’s population) will be senior citizens. The increase in the number of elderly will be the greatest and the most rapid in the developing world, with Asia as the region with the largest number of older persons.

As such, India too is undergoing this demographic transition. While 8% of the country’s population was recorded as 60 years and above by the 2011 Census, the number is expected to increase to 12.5%by 2026 and 20%by 2050.

However, this is not without problems. With this kind of an ageing scenario, there is pressure on all aspects of care for the elderly—be it financial, health or shelter. With the onset of the 21^stcentury, the growing security of older persons in India is very visible. Older people are living longer and households are getting smaller and congested, causing stress in joint and extended families.

Even where they are co-residing, marginalization, isolation and insecurity is felt among older persons due to generation gap and change in lifestyles. Increase in lifespan also results in chronic functional disabilities creating a need for assistance required by the older person to manage daily chores.

Moreover, the traditional system of the woman of the house looking after the older family members at home is changing slowly as women also participate in activities outside the home and have their own career ambitions. As a result, there is growing realisation among older persons that they are more often than not being perceived as a burdenby their children.

Earlier, old age had never been a problem in India where a value based, joint family system is supposed to prevail. Indian culture is automatically respectful and supportive of elders. With that background, elder abuse was never considered as a problem in the country and has always been thought of as a western problem.

However, the coping capacities of the younger and older family members are now being challenged and more often than not, there is unwanted behaviour by younger family members, which is experienced as abnormal by the older family member, but cannot be labelled.

Hence, there is an urgent need to take up the issue of abuse of elderly persons in the country and ensure their safety and security.