SHAPING THE FUTURE HOW CHANGING DEMOGRAPHICS CAN POWER HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

Mitigating the rise
of non-communicable
diseases can help
keep health care
for older persons
affordable
146
pensions should start from the perspective that
higher labour taxes depress household income
and spending, especially among households with
little or no savings—and such households make
up the largest share of consumption spending.
Better-off households are more equipped to
adjust savings behaviour based on income flow.
Broaden scope for personal savings and investment.
Many people in Asia-Pacific hold
personal savings in non-monetary assets such as
gold, housing and property. This limits abilities
to generate a steady flow of cash for retirement,
and reduces the economic benefits of money
circulation. The main factors deterring financial
investments are high rates of inflation; lack of
long-term investment options, including reliable
pension schemes; and low confidence in
and knowledge of banking systems. Without
ensuring a stable macroeconomic environment
and stronger financial institutions, countries are
losing out on the potential benefits of a large
middle-aged working population that tends to
save the most.
In many parts of the region, financial markets
are at a nascent stage. As economies develop,
financial products and services will increase,
but people need to be able to use these wisely
and effectively, especially if households become
increasingly responsible for their own retirement
planning. 113 Policy guiding the development
of the financial industry should encourage
the availability of low-risk investment options,
such as annuities and bonds that will help older
people earn relatively safe returns. Early on,
workers should be encouraged to accumulate
savings and assets, and invest them in useful
ways. Deeper integration of financial markets
in Asia-Pacific could allow the savings of Asia’s
older, more developed countries to help finance
investments in infrastructure and education in
younger, less developed countries.
Strengthen traditional support institutions.
Public policy can play an important role in fostering
family support systems for older people. In
Singapore, children are now legally required to
support their older parents and relatives. 114 The
Malaysian Government has offered tax incentives
to families who care for elderly members.
Both nations have concurrently revised public
housing policies to encourage multigenerational
living arrangements. Advertisements and public
awareness schemes can also help uphold the
importance of the family, and the need to assist
older parents and relatives, taking care to avoid
discriminatory gender stereotypes that assign
a disproportionate burden of care to women.
Preservation of family units will help take
excessive pressure off pension schemes, and increase
psychological and emotional satisfaction
among older people. Studies show that older
adults providing home care for their grandchildren
have greater cognitive abilities and
better health as they remain physically active
and mentally engaged. In a number of countries
in Europe, taking care of grandchildren has
been an important way to allow for maternal
employment, especially among low-income
families or where childcare is expensive. A
combined approach comprised of assuring a
minimum income in old age and mitigating
challenges to family support can contribute to
both financial well-being among older persons
and more broadly to social cohesion.
IMPROVE HEALTH-CARE SYSTEMS
FOR OLDER PEOPLE
Population ageing will undoubtedly place an
increasing burden on national health-care and
budget systems. Early intervention and planning
can help countries strengthen health systems
while a majority of people who will one day be
older are still working.
Achieve universal health care. Universal health
care can make some of the most significant contributions
to human development, and should be
a goal in all countries, as emphasized in Agenda
2030. This needs to include an explicit focus
on older people, who currently face a number
of barriers to access.
Older people typically need more health
care, but not all can afford it, particularly those
from lower-income households or who live independently.
Health-care spending for older adults
is about three to four times higher than that of
the working-age population, for example, in the
United States. 115 To lower out-of-pocket costs,
countries need to plan to allocate a greater share
of public expenditure on health care, including