Politicians need to address issues around our ageing society, writes Finola Kennedy
Finola Kennedy
The final comment of former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern to the Oireachtas Banking Inquiry went largely unreported. He referred to the difficulty of providing resources for “the ageing of Irish society”. He went on to say: “I hope the issue isn’t lost.”
Mr Ahern was highlighting a major challenge for future governments. It will be of interest to see what proposals – if any – are made by the various political parties regarding this issue in the context of the general election campaign.
Resources are crucial, but priorities also matter on the issue. Discharging an elderly woman from hospital at four o’clock in the morning in a manner which ends up before the High Court certainly suggests lack of priority. Leaving an elderly man on a trolley for 29 hours was recently compared by a hospital consultant to a form of torture. Since it has been claimed that this was not due to a lack of resources, it appears that it was due to a lack of priority: others were seen as more important.
The ageing of Irish society is not new, but it is gathering momentum.
In the 100 years from 1841 to 1941, when the total population of the 26 counties fell by about 3.5 million, there was an increase of 117,000 in the number of persons aged 65 years and over. In the 50 years from 1961 to 2011, the number of persons aged 65 years and over increased from 315,000 to 535,000. It is projected that by 2041, the number will more than double.
These trends have major implications for the provision of pensions, the overall public finances and for the care of the elderly. In 2014, some 432,000 persons were in receipt of a state old age pension; the majority had a contributory pension. In addition a further 100,000 received the widow’s or widower’s pension. Total expenditure on pensions was €6.6 billion, or 33% of the total expenditure of the Department of Social Protection. The cost of rescuing the banks would have paid the pension bill for a decade.
The provision of income and care for pensioners cannot be isolated from the changes in family patterns which have occurred during the lifetime of those pensioners. For example, there has been a big increase in the number of people of all ages living alone as the number of multigenerational households has declined steadily. The change is particularly marked among the elderly: in 1966, one in eight of the population aged 65 and over lived alone, today the ratio is more than one in four.
The family in modern Ireland is increasingly shaped by individual preference, in turn influenced by economic factors. Childcare and care of the elderly have become, to a degree, market services as well as voluntary and state services.
The background against which these changes occurred was one of economic growth and rising standards of living, notwithstanding periods of economic downturn. Yet despite the substantial increase in wealth and income since the 1960s, the care of the elderly is an issue of increasing concern.
Respect
The open-ended welfare state may be approaching its limits and the serious issue of priorities becomes acute. It is vital that the issue is debated with sensitivity and respect.
European Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly recently remarked that end of life issues are “coming down the tracks” for Ireland. Some months ago MPs in Britain rejected by a large majority proposed legislation on assisted dying.
While a distinct issue, assisted dying in some cases may not be separated completely from the availability of resources for intensive end of life and hospice care. Care of the elderly and the need to resource that care affects every citizen.
Finola Kennedy is an economist and author of Cottage to Crèche: Family Change in Ireland.