Basic Social and Demographic Dimensions of Ageing

Romeo B Lee, PhD De La Salle University

What do we mean by demographic?

Population events Fertility (crude birth rates, total fertility rate) Mortality (crude death rates, life expectancy) Population size (absolute and relative) Population composition (age, sex)

Table 1. Computation of total fertility, gross reproductive and net reproductive rates for Uganda Age-specific female fertility rates 6 7 8 69.17431 147.278 144.6507 125.1344 92.94594 41.49526 12.29892 632.9775 x5 3164.888

Age group 1 15-19 20-24 25-29 30-34 35-39 40-44 45-49

Number of women 2 936480 815627 673084 479915 353079 280223 233088

Number of births 3 133901 250361 204436 122778 67755 24275 6089

Probability of surviving 4 0.977162 0.969103 0.961921 0.987933 0.978291 0.967498 0.950929

Age-specific Female births fertility rates 5 66294.3851 123953.7311 101216.2636 60787.3878 33545.5005 12018.5525 3014.6639

142.9832992 70.79103142 306.9552626 151.9735505 303.7302922 150.3768677 255.8328037 126.6628211 191.897564 95.00848394 86.62743601 42.88924357 26.12318094 12.93358689 1314.149839 650.6355851 x5 x5 6570.749193 3253.177926

TFR=6570 births per 1000 women/6.6 births per woman GRR=3253 female births per 1000 women/3.3 female births per woman NRR=3165 female births per 1000 women/.2 female

Population ageing is:

Unprecedented: more older (60+/65+)than younger (<5/<15) persons Pervasive: global Profound: with major and sweeping consequences and implications Enduring: a long-term phenomenon

Relative growth in the number of older persons

http://www.prb.org/Articles/2011/agingpopulationclocks.aspx

Shifts in population composition by countries

http://visualization.geblogs.com/visualization/aging/

Yemen: 15 years Japan: 41 years

Niger: 20 years Spain: 55 years

Burgeoning number of the oldestold (80+)

Currently, they are increasing at 3.8% a year, and constitute more than 10% of the total population of older persons. By 2050, the oldest-old will comprise 20% of the old.

Potential Support Ratio (PSR): the number of persons in 15-64 age group for every one person aged 65+

1950-2009:12 to 9 people By 2050: 4 people

Gender Imbalance
2000: 63 million more women than men in the older persons category. 2000: 2-5 times more women than men in the oldest-old category.

FINLAND 1) 38 births, 32 deaths; 2) 38 births, 24 deaths, 3) 29 births, 17 deaths, 4) 12 births, 10 deaths

What do we mean by social? Care and support Quality of life at older age

Health Care Issues

Increasing demand for health care resources Demand for the level and mix of services required Decreasing supply side of health care Shrinking supply of health workers due to ageing labour force and retirements

Living Arrangements
Constellation, totality of services Public welfare services Private nursing homes Families taking care of their own Community-based support groups

What do we mean by social? What it means to grow older How people age Related social and cultural values, beliefs and norms Self-assessments

Older persons are generally respected, but stereotyped as: (Andersen and Taylor, 2006) Unhappy and evil Forgetful Set in their ways Meddlesome Inactive, unproductive Lonely Mentally dim Not interested in sex Burden.

The World Assemblies on Ageing highlight the goal of providing older persons with the opportunity to continue contributing to society, while calling for the need to remove whatever excludes or discriminates against them.

Activity Theory
Remaining active and engaged with society: pivotal to satisfaction. Successful aging equals active aging. Positive self-image: developing new interests, hobbies, roles, etc. An older person should continue a middle-aged lifestyle, denying the limitations of old age as long as possible.

Continuity Theory
Life cycle/perspective Personality, role activity, and basic patterns of behaviour are consistent throughout life. Older age is a continuation of the earlier life. Life patterns, coping strategies and successful methods are repeated in older age. One becomes in late life as a product of a lifetime of personal choices. Active, healthy and positive lifestyles for life.

Recap
1. Absolute and and relative growths 2. Shifts in population composition 3. Median age 4. Potential support ratio 5. Gender imbalance 6. Demographic transition 7. Social support 8. Activity and continuity