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

PCBS: Palestinian Family Survey, 2010Figure PE.2: Elderely people DistributionDistribution of elderly people 60 years and over by locality type and region, State of Palestine, 2010Almost half of the elderly population were illiterate (47 percent) with a higher proportion of illiteracy among womencompared to men (65 percent and 25 percent respectively). Consistently, the proportion of educated men was higherthan educated women in both the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. While the level of illiteracy for both men and womenwas almost the same in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, the West Bank had almost doubled the percentage of thosewith secondary and higher education (12 percent and 23 percent respectively). Overall, only 15 percent of the elderlyhad secondary education and higher. See Table PE.2Table PE.2: Educational LevelDistribution of elderly population by educational level, sex and region, State of Palestine, 2010Educational attainmentWest Bank Gaza Strip State of PalestineMales Females Both Sexes Males Females Both Sexes Males Females Both SexesIlliterate 25.2 65.3 47.5 24.7 65.0 47.5 25.1 65.2 47.5Semi-literate 22.7 13.6 17.6 11.6 7.7 9.4 19.2 11.7 15.0Elementary 24.1 10.8 16.7 14.8 7.2 10.5 21.2 9.7 14.7Preparatory 9.3 4.0 6.3 13.3 6.9 9.7 10.5 4.9 7.4Secondary & higher 18.7 6.3 11.8 35.6 13.1 22.9 24.0 8.5 15.3Total 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 3,634The Elderly and the FamilyFamilies were the main source of care and support for elderly people. Nine percent of elderly people were living alone,13 percent were living in someone else’s home, and 78 percent were living in their own homes with other family members.More elderly people in the West Bank were living alone compared to the Gaza Strip (11 percent and 7 percentrespectively). Of these, more women were living alone compared to men in the State of Palestine (14 percent and 4percent respectively). Elderly people seemed to be satisfied with the family care; 85 percent of them said that theirchildren were taking care of them in a good manner and 96 said that their children provided care with respect. Thesame results were reported for men and women in both the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. However, responding tosensitive questions such as the care of children in a survey may be problematic. Further qualitative research is neededto elaborate on the quality of care received by the elderly in their homes.Many elderly people continued to act as the head of their households. Forty two percent were responsible for themselvesas well as other family members (12 percent responsible solely for themselves and 30 percent for themselvesand others). Men constituted the higher proportion of elderly people holding this dual responsibility (47 percent mento 16 percent women). More elderly men in the Gaza Strip acted as the heads of their families compared to the WestBank (56 percent and 44 percent respectively). See Table PE.3. Still, 59 percent of the elderly were dependent on someoneelse, including 43 percent of the men and 71 percent of the women.157