Palestinian Family Survey 2010 Final Report - Palestinian Central ...

PCBS: Palestinian Family Survey, 2010Figure PE.1: Elderly people 60 years and over by age groupPercentage of elderly people 60 years and over by age group as a percentage of the elderly population,State of Palestine, 2010Table PE.1 presents the marital status of the elderly people. Married elderly people accounted for 64 of the elderlydemographic, with a substantial difference between men and women: 91% and 44% respectively. Only 8% of the menwere widowed compared to 49% of the women. One possible explanation is that Palestinian men tend to remarry afterthe death of their wives, while women do not.Table PE.1: Marital Status of Elderly peopleDistribution of elderly people 60 years and over by marital status, sex and region, State of Palestine, 2010Marital statusWest Bank Gaza Strip State of PalestineMales Females Both Sexes Males Females Both Sexes Males Females Both SexesSingle 0.6 6.8 4.0 0.4 2.5 1.6 0.5 5.4 3.3Married 91.5 43.1 64.5 89.9 44.8 64.4 91.0 43.7 64.4Divorced 0.1 2.1 1.2 0.0 1.0 0.6 0.1 1.8 1.0Widow/widower 7.7 47.5 30.0 9.7 51.7 33.4 8.3 48.9 31.1Separated 0.1 0.4 0.3 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.3 0.2Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0Number of Elderly 1,103 1,377 2,480 501 653 1,154 1,604 2,030 3,634Most elderly people in the State of Palestine were living in urban areas in 2010 (71 percent). This is similar to thegeneral population distribution. Eighteen percent were living in rural areas and 10 percent in refugee Camps. Moreelderly people were living in urban areas in the Gaza Strip (80 percent) compared to the West Bank (66 percent). Avery small proportion were living in rural areas in the Gaza Strip (4 percent) compared with more than a quarter in theWest Bank (28 percent). Acknowledgment of this differential distribution is important if services are to be initializedfor the elderly.156