Older People in Northern Ireland: Report 1: Setting the Scene

Author(s): Eileen Evason, Katrina Lloyd, Pat McKee and Paula Devine
Commissioned by: Atlantic Philanthropies
Document Type: Report
Year: 2004
Publisher: Institute of Governance, Public Policy and Social Research
Place of Publication: Belfast
Subject Area(s): Economic Issues, Health, Lifestyle, Social Security, Gender
Client Group(s) : Elderly

Abbreviations: NI - Northern Ireland, NILT - Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey

Background to the Research

  • This report was the first in a series of fact sheets on the needs and circumstances of older people in NI, which resulted from a number of concerns raised by members of voluntary organisations and others representing older people. These concerns included the issues of: a lack or disorganisation of information on older people in NI; the development of a hierarchy of social need; and generally negative perspectives of the ageing nature of our society.

Research Approach

  • This report sets the scene by reviewing data on persons of pensionable age (60 years or over for women, and 65 years or over for men) in NI, touching on many of themes to be addressed in more detail in the future fact sheets. The datasets analysed included NI Statistics and Research Agency's Continuous Household Survey, the NI Census, the NI Household Panel Survey, the British Household Panel Survey and the NILT survey.

Main Findings

  • Persons of pensionable age in NI accounted for 15.89% of the population, with women heavily outnumbering men, highlighting the need for pensions' policies to take full account of women's particular life patterns.
  • Within the United Kingdom context, NI has a lower proportion of people aged 65 years and over than any other region apart from London.
  • Life expectancy in NI has increased at a steady rate over the past 50 years. The proportion of people aged 65 years or over is projected to rise from 13.3% in 2001 to 24.8% by 2041. However, this increase is over a forty-year period, at the end of which three quarters of the population will still be under 65 years. The sharpest increase will be in the number of people aged 85 years or over; 64,000 people within a total population of 1.7million are projected to be in this age group.
  • Whist the NI birth rate has declined over the past 50 years, in contrast to the position in Wales and Scotland, births still outnumber deaths.
  • Whilst the majority of male pensioners are married, only two fifths of women have partners so older women are much more likely than older men to live alone.
  • Approximately one third of older people live in rural areas and those aged 75 and over are slightly more likely to live in rural areas and to live alone, which has implications for the delivery of health and social care services.
  • Nearly half of those aged 65 years or over in NI live in the Eastern Health and Social Services area; the Western Health and Social Services Board has the fewest older people. The majority of older people report their health as being "good" or "fairly good".
  • Reporting of a longstanding illness rises with age, with the majority of older persons falling into this category. Despite this, somewhat lower proportions of people say that their illness actually limits their activities.
  • Whilst older men are more likely than younger men to consult their GPs, consultation rates amongst women, which are generally higher, remain steady.
  • The data did suggest that older people in NI are in poorer health than older people in England and Scotland.
  • Relatively small numbers of elderly people in NI live in nursing/residential care homes.
  • Substantial numbers of older people in NI are carers; for example, 17% of women aged 60-74 are caring for someone in the same household and 6% of older women are caring for someone in another household.
  • Nearly two thirds of pensioners in NI own their homes and this is a far higher figure than that for younger people. On average, pensioner households occupy property worth £115,000. Over one fifth of pensioners live in Housing Executive or housing association accommodation.
  • A significant minority of pensioners are not satisfied with their accommodation. The most frequently cited problems, vandalism and crime, did not relate to the accommodation itself.
  • Only a minority of pensioners remained in employment and the remainder showed little enthusiasm for returning to paid employment.
  • As is the case amongst younger age groups, there is substantial income inequality amongst older people in NI.
  • The costs to women of caring are illustrated by the fact that more than half of all male pensioners, compared with just over one fifth of women, have pensions from work. One consequence of the lower incomes of pensioners generally, and female pensioners in particular, is a heavy reliance on means-tested benefits. Data from the 1999/2000 NILT survey suggested that as many as 13% of pensioner households could be entitled to - but not claiming - Income Support.
  • Older people make fewer journeys than younger people. Older women make the fewest journeys, rely more than others on getting about as passengers in private cars but are also more likely than others to walk.
  • A large minority of older people say they are very or fairly interested in politics. Older people are more likely to vote than younger people, and those aged 60/65-74 years are as likely to be involved with organisations such as church groups, community associations and trades unions as those below pensionable age. However, older people have fairly limited engagement with the Internet, which has implication for service and policy makers who rely on this to deliver benefits/services.

Conclusions

  • This fact sheet set out the broad picture and also challenged some of the stereotypes and assumptions that are a feature of much of the discussion surrounding older people and the fact that we are an ageing society. A number of the issues touched on are followed up in further publications.

 

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