SHAPING THE FUTURE HOW CHANGING DEMOGRAPHICS CAN POWER HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

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Vulnerability
to poverty increases
in old age, especially
for women
55-64 and increases thereafter. 12 In the Republic
of Korea, despite very low overall poverty rates,
nearly half of people above age 65 live below the
poverty line. 13 Box 4.2 sketches issues in China,
the Republic of Korea and Thailand.
The older people get, the poorer they tend to
become. In Indonesia, the poverty rate increased
from 13 percent among the 60-plus population
to 15 percent among those aged 75 and above
in 2012. 14 Many older people subsist just above
the poverty line—and when the poverty line is
increased by only 50 percent, the proportion
of elderly poor shoots from 13 percent to 42
percent. Poverty rates are higher in rural areas,
at 17 percent, compared to urban areas, at 11
percent. A contrary pattern, however, operates in
some provinces outside Java in Indonesia, where
old-age poverty rates are below those of the
non-elderly. This may be explained by cultural
habits, earning possibilities, family structures
and regionally specific migration patterns. 15
Among older persons, women are more at
risk of poverty, often as a result of lower pension
coverage, lower income and fewer benefits. 16
Men hold a larger proportion of paid jobs, while
women perform a larger proportion of unpaid
care and voluntary jobs, 17 and earn 33 and 20
percent less than men in South Asia and the rest
of Asia-Pacific, respectively, in paid employment
during the period 2008-2014. 18
For many women, a lifetime of gender discrimination
crosses with age discrimination,
leaving them with far fewer tools to manage the
vicissitudes of ageing, and resulting in the ‘feminization’
of poverty among the elderly. 19 Women
still carry more than half of the work burden at
home, 20 and many face employment interruptions
due to childbearing and care responsibilities. 21
They comprise a larger proportion of workers in
the less remunerative agricultural and informal
sectors, have less education and participate in
the labour market at lower overall rates. 22
In South-east Asia, older men have more
income from a greater variety of sources than
older women, including pension schemes and
investments. They are more likely to work,
whereas older women tend to depend more on
social sources for income, whether from spouses
or relatives, or through public provision. 23
Women in general who are widowed, divorced,
separated or never married, or who do not have
children, are particularly vulnerable to poverty
in old age. 24 Since women, on average, live
longer, they have a greater chance of becoming
impoverished as they age. Rural women fare
worse than rural men as well as urban women
and men.
Some countries have begun to pay special
attention to older women, because their numbers
and vulnerabilities are greater. In the Republic of
Korea and Indonesia, the National Plan of Action
for Older Persons’ Welfare contains provisions
for special education and training initiatives for
older women, and health programmes specifically
targeting them, as well as policies aimed at
increasing women’s employment opportunities. 25
AT RISK OF DISCRIMINATION, IN NEED
OF PROTECTION
Older men and women have the same rights as
everyone else. Yet ageism 26 and age discrimination
are widespread. Negative attitudes towards
old age and older people are deeply ingrained in
many societies. Unlike other forms of prejudice
and discriminatory behaviour, these are rarely
acknowledged or challenged, leading to isolation
and exclusion. 27 Many people fear the ageing
process and old age itself, suggesting the need
for measures encouraging new perspectives on
older age as a time of opportunity, not just a
stage of life to be feared.
Older people can be highly vulnerable to
deprivation, exploitation and abuse, including
in their own homes as well as in institutional
facilities. They may be denied the right to make
decisions about their personal finances, property
and medical care, 28 or lose out on social security
entitlements, access to health and opportunities
to work. 29
Discrimination and exclusion linked to age
may intersect with other forms, based on factors
such as gender, ethnic origin, disability, income,
sexuality, HIV status or literacy levels. The result
of any type of discrimination is a narrowing of
individual choices and freedoms. It also eats
away at a country’s progress and prospects for
human development. There is clear evidence, for
example, that when older people’s right to social
security is realized, poverty rates fall, as does
child labour, while enrolment rises in schools. 30
Among international efforts to help fight