CONDITION OF

ELDERLY IN INDIA

Financial Status Health

In India, the majority of older persons face
financial hardship in old age as most of
them are not in a position to earn their
livelihood. According to the latest study conducted by
Agewell Foundation, 65 percent of old
people are poor with no source of known income. The
good news is that 35 percent
still have money, properties, savings.
The elderly are vulnerable to long term
diseases of insidious onset such as
cardiovascular illness, CVA, cancers,
diabetes, musculoskeletal and mental
illnesses. the majority of older persons face
financial hardship in old age as most of
they are not in a position to pay their
medical bills

Violence
Violence against elder people is also a problem
faced by them surveys revealed that 11% of 60+-
year-olds have experienced at least one type of
elderly abuse (Physical 5.3%, Verbal 10.2%,
Economic 5.4%, Disrespect 6%, Neglect 5.2%).
The most common perpetrator is the son, who is
reported to be responsible for the abuse among
41% of male victims and 43% of female victims
Education
The overall educational level among the elderly is
very poor. The highest grade has been classified
as eight years of schooling and above. In our
sample, 13 percent of women and 36 percent of
men have eight or more years of schooling. 35
percent of the men and 66 percent of the women
are illiterate.

Case study of Lakhan Singh

Sixty-eight-year-old Lakhan Singh fondly remembers the days when he was in

“service”. The best thing about those days, he feels, was that he “was in control of
his own life”.These days he sells plastic goods by the roadside and lives in
miserable conditions to make ends meet for his wife and him. He is forced to hand
over his entire pension to his grandson, who threatens to stop his diabetic wife’s
treatment