Life expectancy has risen due to socioeconomic development and better health care.

Life expectancy at birth rose from 65.8 years in 1970 to 80.9 years in 2009. It grew from 64.1 to 78.4 years for males and from 67.8 to 83.2 years for females. The old can also expect to live longer: male life expectancy at age 65 has risen from 12.6 to an estimated 17.4 years and female life expectancy from 15.4 to an estimated 20.8 years over the period 1980-2008. According to the Active Ageing Index, 79 per cent of older persons assessed that their income was sufficient for a living, while 20 per cent felt that it was not sufficient. (One in five feels that he or she does not have sufficient income for living.) There are over 330,100 elderly persons in Singapore. The IPS report revealed that more than 66,020 of these elderly persons do not have sufficient money for living. That is a huge number of people, especially for such a small, wealthy country like ours. Institute of Policy Studies report: it was found that, of the elderly folk who continue working beyond retirement age, 67 per cent do so because they need money for current or future expenses. In contrast, only 21 per cent work because they want to lead an active life or simply occupy their time. Back in 1995, the same survey found that less than 40 per cent of seniors worked because they had to. The Council for Third Age found in its latest survey that 87% of Singaporeans believe that seniors can play an active role in society and 75% believe that seniors are now more active. In March 2007, a Ministerial Committee on Ageing was formed to coordinate the Governments response to an ageing population. The committees vision is to achieve Successful Ageing in Singapore through four key areas: Employment and nancial security, Healthcare and eldercare, Ageing-in-place, Active ageing. Savings: A 2009 OCBC Bank survey found that the top goal for older Singaporeans, especially those with older children, was to achieve nancial freedom and retire comfortably. The next top 2 goals were to spend time and travel with their family and to save for their childrens education. 1. Low-income seniors and their families can seek nancial assistance through the Community Care Endowment Fund or ComCare. For seniors who can still work, but need some help to tide them over, there are ComCare schemes which help support their job search and through their difcult period. 2. . In July 2008, the criteria for the Public Assistance Scheme was revised to allow seniors who are permanently unable to work and whose family members are also unable to provide adequate support, to be considered for PA. Health According to a National University of Singapore study, productive leisure activities like shopping, cooking, reading, playing music and community work are associated with a lowered risk of cognitive decline, more so than physical or social activities (like mahjong, karaoke or watching a movie). 1. Nurture Your Mind for Older Persons to learn coping skills and how to build positive relationships for optimal mental well-being. 2. Nationwide Integrated Screening Programme (ISP) to encourage all Singaporeans aged 40 years and older to be screened for diabetes, high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, obesity, breast and cervical cancers at General Practitioner (GP) clinics registered with the Ministry of Healths Chronic Disease Management Programme (CDMP). The Screening Programme aims to promote holistic and evidence-based screening for these diseases so that these conditions can be detected early and we can prevent the onset of severe and expensive health complications. 3. Medisave helps individuals put aside part of their income into their CPF Medisave Accounts to meet their future personal or immediate familys hospitalisation, day surgery and certain outpatient expenses. 4. MediShield is a low-cost insurance scheme which helps CPF members meet medical expenses from major illnesses, which cannot be sufciently covered by their Medisave. MediShield will cover up to 80% of your medical bill at the Class B2/C level. 5. ElderShield provides basic nancial protection to those who need long-term care due to severe disabilities. 6. Medifund is an endowment fund set up by the Government to help needy Singaporeans who are unable to pay for their medical expenses. Lifestyle:

1. Young at Heart (YAH!) College, which has seen 700 mature students enrolling in its courses, aimed at imparting life skills and a deeper appreciation of the ageing process. 2. Tai Chi for Health by the National Arthritis Foundation, which is promoting a special 12-step form of tai chi which promotes exibility and balance among seniors. 180 seniors are targeted to be trained in this form of tai chi, who are then expected to reach out to 7,200 seniors. 3. A Barrier Free Accessibility Masterplan to ensure that our built environment is seamlessly connected so that the seniors and people with physically disabilities can move around easily. Work: As we live longer, we also need to work longer. Work keeps us meaningfully occupied, gives us a source of income and contributes to our self-esteem and identity. We may not want to work the same long hours at the same job or compete for higher pay when we are older. But work can help us stay physically active, mentally alert, socially connected and financially self-reliant. Baby Boomer Survey, 2007. Among economically active respondents aged between 43 and 60, almost half wished to or expected to work for as long as they can. Among those who specied an age at which to retire, about 3 in 10 expected to do so at age 65 or older, beyond the current retirement age of 62. At work, older workers bring experience, stability and quiet deliberation to their workplaces. Lee Hsien Loong, Prime Minister 1. Tripartite Committee on Employability of Older Workers. In 2007, the committee identied four areas to enhance the employability of older workers: Expanding employment opportunities for older workers; Enhancing older workers skills and value; Enhancing their cost effectiveness; and Shaping positive perceptions towards older workers. 2. The ADVANTAGE! Scheme offers a grant of up to $400,000 to fund a companys efforts to recruit, retain or re-employ mature workers. The scheme will now also include the development and implementation of systems for reemployment. 3. The Workfare Income Supplement (WIS) was introduced in 2007 to help low wage workers nd work, continue working and to build up their CPF savings. At the same time, the CPF contribution rates of older, low-wage workers were reduced to enhance their employability and increase their take-home pay. 4. Laws: 1. The Mental Capacity Act was passed in Parliament in September 2008 to allow you to appoint a guardian(s) to make decisions on your behalf should you lose the ability to do so due to illness or accident. The Act also makes it a criminal offence for caregivers to wilfully neglect or abuse mentally incapacitated people. 2. Passed in 1995, the Maintenance of Parents Act allows older people aged 60 and above to seek maintenance from their children if they are unable to provide for themselves. A person below 60 years may also apply if the Tribunal is convinced that the individual is suffering physical or mental disability. and is unable to care for himself 3. The Womens Charter, which was passed in 1961, protects seniors (whether male or female) against family violence. They can apply for a Protection Order from the Family Court to restrain the abuser from using violence. 4. The Community Mediation Centre (CMC) provides mediation services linked with social, community or family disputes that does not involve a sizeable offence under written law. Mediation sessions are conducted in a cordial and informal atmosphere, and as expeditiously as possible 5. The Legal Aid Bureau provides quality legal aid and advice on a range of civil matters to individuals of limited means.