Ageing population lack eldercare facilities - EDITORIAL

Our population is aging. According to ‘Pension Watch’, in 2018, approximately 2,507,630 people were over 60 years of age and this number is predicted to reach 7,464,687 by 2050.
World Bank figures reveal that 12.3% of our population is aged 60 or older (with the Western province having the highest percentage of the country’s elderly). The Western Province comprises 31.7%, while the Northern Province has the least at 4.8%. The percentages make Lanka the country with the highest proportion of older adults in South Asia. 

Quoting the World Bank again, it also means in 15 years, one in four or 25% of our population will be over 60 years! This in turn means the number of workers retiring will increase while there will be considerably less numbers entering the labour force.

Studies carried out by the Asia Development Bank reveal by 2050, Sri Lanka will go through an unprecedented demographic transition into an aging population at a lower level of per capita income than other aging economies. 
With the breakdown of the extended family system, the non-availability of a social security system, the older members of our society are today at a critical juncture of their lives. This is crucial given that there is now limited availability of eldercare facilities - six public sector run elder care centers and 324 private or community- run centres, according to World Bank studies.

In addition, private sector retirement and savings schemes are fragmented and have limited coverage (most of the two-thirds of workers in the informal sector are excluded) and benefits. Due to the unavailability of a proper social security for the elderly in our country, many persons who have already passed the retirement age are forced to accept low-paid jobs on a daily-paid basis. 

This limited support system has a lot to do with the large number of persons of  60 years and over, who can be seen begging all over Colombo and major cities in our country. These unfortunates have literally slaved for a tuppence, during the prime of their working lives. On reaching an age where they are unable to continue working, they find themselves thrown out on the streets, left helpless and abandoned. In many other instances older persons are forced onto the streets as their sons and or daughters can no longer afford their upkeep.  

This fact as mentioned earlier, is borne out by the large numbers of elderly who can be seen begging along the streets of the capital. Worsening the problems of our aging fathers and mothers, is the fact that older adults are more susceptible to ill-health. World Bank statics revealed that at the end of August 2021, over 75% of all Covid-19 deaths were of people aged 60 and over.

Around a third of our citizens are engaged in agricultural work (FAO Regional Office for Asia and Pacific). These families have no social security for their old age. Earlier they depended on the extended family for support once they were unable to engage in their occupation. With the breakdown of the extended family with the younger generation moving out of their traditional villages, the older generation of farmers soon become helpless.  

In like manner, nearly one million persons reside in our tea and rubber estates today. ‘The Plantation Development Trust’ reveals that of this number 320,000 are directly employed in the plantation sector. As in the case of the farming community, younger people are moving out of the plantations due to the low quality of life and low wages on the estates. The extremely low wages paid for manual labour ensures the older people have little or no social security once they reach retirement age. 

 Are we, as a nation about to abandon our senior citizens once they come to the end of their working lives? Today, lesser than 10% of the working population is covered by pension schemes.
While recognizing we are faced with problems arising from the current financial crisis, government cannot wash its hands off the problems senior citizens of this country are going to face in the very near future. 

There is an urgent need, therefore for government, as well as the private sector to develop a system for community-based social care for the elderly, linked to the primary care health system. There is also an urgent need to commence welfare programmes for the elderly.
If we fail to protect our senior citizens, this generation will be likened to Pontius Pilate - the Roman governor of Judea - and his attempt to wash his hands off the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.