A Social Report for Ireland Volume II - the NESC Website

176Figure 8.7 Life Satisfaction, OECD Comparisons, 2006%1009087 8785 8582 82 80 80 79 79 79 78 7571807069 67 66 6562 62 616050403020100IrelandMexicoNetherlandsUSAFinlandLuxembourgCanadaSwedenAustriaGermanyIcelandDenmarkBelgiumSource OECD (2007: 115) Society at a Glance: OECD Social Indicators 200659 5746Within Ireland, the SLÁN 2007 survey asked respondents to rate their quality of lifeon a five point scale from ‘very good’ to ‘very poor’. They found that 82 per cent ofpeople aged 65 and over rated their quality of life as ‘good’ or ‘very good’. This wasslightly below the population as a whole, where overall, 90 per cent of people ratedtheir life as ‘good’ or ‘very good’. For the over 65s there was little difference betweenmen and women, and in line with other age groups, those in higher social classestended to rate their quality of life slightly higher than those in lower social classes(Morgan et al., 2008: 41).The next six sections of this chapter assess the well-being of older people in Irelandacross the six domains of well-being: economic resources, work and participation,relationships and care, community and environment, health, and democracy andvalues. Cutting across these six domains are the needs of older people in vulnerablesituations who need additional attention and support. This includes those living onlow incomes, those who are living alone and may be isolated, the very old and thevery sick and disabled. As communities of new Irish from different ethnic originsage this will add a new dimension to our older population and communities. Ourservices need to be able to identify and support vulnerable older people and ourdata systems need to be able to monitor their well-being.UKOECD26ItalyCzech Republic40 39 39FranceGreecePortugalSpainJapanKoreaPolandSlovakiaHungaryTurkey