Ageing is a blessing. It is not necessarily a joyful process. It is a pleasure because we can look back at what we have achieved and can enjoy the fruit of love and labour, especially in the form of our family, children, grandchildren, and perhaps great-grandchildren too. It may not be a joyful process because of the aches and pains it brings along with it.
Even those of us who try to lead a healthy life are susceptible to the natural process of ageing. The reduction in energy. The tendency to be more exposed to illness. Stiffness in the joints. All in all the judgement about ageing lies in the quality of life it brings along with it.
In addition to the creaking of joints, failing eyesight and what not, there is the material side of ageing, the financial situation one finds oneself in. Ageing brings us to pensionable age. For many of us there is a big drop between our peak earnings, which tend to be achieved as we approach retiring age, and the formal pension entitlement.
If one has not put aside enough savings and investments to bridge part of the gap in loss of income, the post-retirement years can be grim indeed.
This is one of the reasons why it is important to continue with the revision of pensions, and at least to bring into effect the third pillar, whereby individuals are fiscally encouraged to provide savings for use in their retirement years. It is strange that so many years have passed without making any progress at all on this front. It is now one of the Government’s commitments and one hopes it will be tackled without delay.
The material and financial problems of ageing are examined, among other things, in an annual survey of at-risk-of-poverty carried out by the National Statistics Office. One has to say, in this context, that the NSO has made great strides in collating social statistics through annual surveys and the population census. More can be done, but it is heading in the right direction.
The latest at-risk-of-poverty survey covers 2011. A news release issued in May by the NSO summarises its results. What it has to say about those at risk of poverty, from children to the aged, shows that we have a huge problem developing. It confirms that Minister Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca was right to appoint Yana Mintoff, an expert in the field, to advise her on poverty.
What (the NSO) has to say about those at risk of poverty ... shows a huge problem developing
Dr Mintoff will help deepen the picture presented by the NSO and hopefully come up with proposals, first on how to reduce the number of those at risk of poverty, and secondly how to reduce the severity of the plight of all those remaining at risk of poverty. That will require fresh allocation of resources, especially financial resources which will have to come from abolition of waste and, above all, from enhanced economic growth and better income distribution.
The NSO May release says that, when considering the replies of those aged 65 and over, 48 per cent reported that they could not afford to pay for one week’s holiday away from home. That is a sign of relative poverty. The survey showed that another eight per cent could not afford to eat a meal with meat, chicken, fish or a vegetarian equivalent every other day.
That is bringing us close to absolute poverty and its effect on the health of individuals in the absence of enough nutritious food. The survey revealed that 23 per cent of those surveyed, representative of the whole cohort of the aged as in all surveys of this type, could not afford to face unexpected financial expenses. That shows how tight a budget they are living on, an inadequate budget because there are always unexpected financial expenses in any household, and with the cost of repairs nowadays these can be more than marginal outlays.
Worse follows. Another example of absolute poverty: 17 per cent of the aged could not afford to keep their home adequately warm in winter. That is grimmer than grim. Despite our overall temperate climate winters can bring along very cold spells.
The above is a synthesis. The fuller picture of the way aged at risk of poverty live can be found by ferreting through the tables included in the news release. For instance, 10,818 of the aged at risk of poverty – a staggering 98.7 per cent – do not have a bath or shower in their dwelling for sole use of the household. Another 2,859 – over a quarter of the total – have leaking roofs or damp.
A similar picture emerges from examining the tables on other age groups. It tells a different story to cars per capita or pictures of yacht marinas filled with small or larger seacraft.
A blanket conclusion is that we seem to be living in a very unequal society. Aside from our common tendency to illness, we have groups of people who are suffering deprivation. These are pro-blems that need to be addressed. It cannot be done over a short space of time. A sound plan will take five to 10 years of good economic growth to at least dent the problem.
Which is why the state of the economy is always so relevant in every form of analysis.