Transcript Äldre en viktig samhällsresurs

Older People, an Invaluable
Resource in Society
Reykjavík 2009 11 09
Barbro Westerholm
Norden Public Health Prize Winner 2009
Some facts
• To-day we live a quarter of a century longer than a 100 years
ago
• Average length of life in the Nordic countries (men 73.7 –
78.6, women 79.0 – 83.3)
• The legislated retirement age is 65/67/70 years, not because
we do not have the strength to work longer but because we
think we can afford this retirement age.
• The actual retirement age is ( Dk 62; Fi, S 64; Is, N 66)
• In the Nordic countries the share of people 60 + will increase
from 20 % to-day to 36 % in 2050
• Half of the children born to-day will become 100 years old
• Can we maintain the welfare state if we continue with these
retirement ages?
What is needed to preserve the welfare we have
now?
• Senior 2005 – Every second Swede has to
work until he or she is 79 years old in order to
preserve the welfare state
• Delegation Housing for the elderly 2008:
Every Swede has to work until he or she is 72
years old in order to manage the care of the
elderly in 2050.
Thus, the answer is no to the
question if we can keep the
present retirement ages
We have to work longer but do older
people want to work longer and do the
employers want us to do so?
But first recognize! We are
individuals and age differently
• Chronological age (numerical measure)
• Biological age (physiological capacity)
• Psykological age (how you function mentally,
intellectually)
• Social age (interplay with the environment)
• Perceived age (the way you feel)
So, who is old: 50+, 60+, 70+ ???
Do older people want to work?
• Interview surveys in Sweden show that between
6 and 30 % want to continue whole time or part
time.
• Reasons – need the income
want to retire at the same time as their
partner
like their work
value the daily contact with the others at the work
place
• Work gives life content and meaning
• The employer appreciates the work and workability
• Their fellow workers wish their older companions to stay
• In 2007 23 658 persons 70+ in Sweden were recorded working
The employers`view on older people
(The National Swedish Insurance Board)
• Seven out of ten employers rarely employ
people 50+
• Attitudes to elderly are a little better within
the health and welfare section
• The employers with many young people in
their staff are more positive to older people
but rarely employ the latter
Which are the obstacles for older
people on the labour market
• Fixed retirement ages
• Myths about older people`s working ability
• Inflexible working places
What needs to be done
• Kill the myths about ageing
• There is no proven relationship between age and job
performance
• Cognitive tests become impaired but there is a large
variation
• In work performance experience, motivation, social
ability, lojality are
important
How can we open the labour
market for older people
• Change the attitudes of the employers
• Open job centres for older people
• Remove obstructing retirement ages
(parliamentary decisions, decisions by
unions, the ILO-convention about
retirement age)
• (Tax reductions)
• And more research about older people
and work
And what should I myself bear in
mind
• Advice to me by Prof. Hans Friebel,
Heidelberg during the 1970-ies:
• ”When you have passed your retirement
age, do not ask for an assignment, say
yes only to those you are asked to take
on. ”
Older people as a resource
after retirement
Voluntary sector
Care of children, old family
members
WHO Health Crisis 2000 (1982)
• ”The elderly have a vital social role to play. They
are usually the most experienced members of
society. They may have more physical needs
than the rest of the family, but often they are the
least demanding. If allowed, they can pay a
positive role in the rearing of children, providing
stabiltiy in the home and offering parents a
chance of relaxation from the demands of their
children. They can, because of their past
experience, provide a psychological anchor in
times of stress”
What do older people do
with their time?
• Care of next of kin (70 % of the eldercare)
• Participation in voluntary work (Red Cross,
pensioners` organisations, cultural activities,
sports etc. )
• Read newpapers, are physically active, repair
houses and homes, take care of gardens, visit
restaurants/pubs/cafés etc,etc
From being ”somebody” to
become ”nobody”
Interviews with people 80+
Tommy Svensson, Per-Erik Liss
Report 2006:2
Prioriteringscentrum, Linköping, Sweden
What should be done
• A price should be put on voluntary contributions
and
• The monetary value of the voluntary
performances should be presented in the
National accounts
• Initiate more research about what elderly do with
their time and what promotes the development
of active ageing
• Broaden the legislation on discrimination
because of age in working life to comprise also
goods, services, health care etc.
Ageism, age discrimination
An obstacle against older people to be
regarded as a resource
Ageism is defined as prejudices or
stereotype conceptions which
originate from a person`s age and
which can result in discrimination
Examples of ageism
• The Nambivaraindians in Mato Grosso,
Brasil, use the same word for young and
beautiful, and the same word for old and
ugly
• There is a lack of positive synonyms to
old/elderly in the Swedish language
Examples of age discrimination
Sweden
• Economical support for a car for disabled people who
want to go on working – age limit 65 years
• Senior housing, age limits
• Loans in banks
• Official statstics
• Purchase on instalment
• Waiting longer for an operation
• Upper age limit mammography
• Political representation
• University position
• Research grants
Essay by a 12-year boy
”Why is it more valuable to be an
old furniture than an old person?”
Elderly a resource as role
models
A grown up Pippi Longstocking or
a grumpy grandmother ?
Placido Domingo
Retire, moi?
”I do not want to sing one day
more than I should, but not one
day less”
Conclusion
Ludvig Rasmusson: Age uprising 2005
• ”We recycle old newspapers … we recycle
more and more raw materials, but not
competence … we try to reduce our
garbage mountains but not the mountains
where our old people are thrown away.
They are beatiful cosy garbage mountains
but none the less garbage
mountains.
• It is high time to start thinking about the
recycling…”