A majority of elders feel inadequacy of income while a substantial number of them do not feel financially secure as they incur more expenditure than they can spare, according to a survey by nonprofit HelpAge India released Wednesday.
Minister for Women & Child Development, Empowerment of Differently Abled and Senior Citizens Halappa Achar released the ‘Bridge the Gap: Understanding Elder Needs’ here on the occasion of World Elder Abuse Awareness Day.
The survey report covered 4,399 elder respondents and 2,200 young adult caregivers across 22 cities in India.
According to the survey, 47% elders are dependent on their family for source of income while 34% live on pension and cash transfers. “Meanwhile, in Bengaluru, 59% of elderly are dependent on family, while an equal number (59%) depend upon pensions and cash transfers,” HelpAge India said in a release.
The survey found that 52% elders nationally reported inadequacy in income. “A substantial 40% elders said they do not feel financially secure, citing their incurred expenses are more than savings/income (57%) and pension not being enough (45%) as the top reasons. This suggests both financial planning for later years and social security needs much greater attention,” the nonprofit said.
In Bengaluru, however, 78% of elderly say that their income is adequate, while 22% say it is not.
According to the survey, 71% of elders are not working. There are 36% of them willing to work and 40% want to work “as long as possible”.
According to HelpAge India Karnataka head Prakashan M, the report has some “alarming data” requiring reconsideration of attitudes towards the elderly. “Elders today aspire to work; they don't want to be seen as mere dependents, but as active participants in society,” he said.
Nationally, 59% elders feel that elder abuse is prevalent in society, while only 10% admitted to being a victim of elder abuse, with relatives (36%), son (35%) and daughter-in-law (21%) being the top perpetrators, HelpAge India said.
“47% of those abused stated they ‘stopped talking to family’ as a response to the abuse they faced,” the survey found.