In 2003, Harvard economist and demographer David E. Bloom coined the term "demographic dividend" to refer to the economic boost or momentum acquired by a country or economy that has a high percentage of its population in the working age group.
While this concept serves a useful purpose in several contexts—for example, emphasizing the importance of better education and skills for youth in such situations to enable society to benefit adequately from this dividend—it is sometimes wrongly used in a negative sense to characterize the high share of older people in a country, now or in later stages of development, as being burdensome. This may not be stated very openly, but this kind of thinking is prevalent widely enough to influence policy.
It is a matter of simple calculation that a country or region that develops in the sense of reducing mortality and achieving higher life expectancy is likely, after a few years, to have a higher share of its population in the older age group, generally regarded as those above 60 years of age. This can be seen in state-aggregated data for India, with Bihar recording 8% of its population in the above-60 age group and Kerala recording 19% in this age group (data from the last census in 2011).
In such a situation, any tendency to regard a higher percentage of the population in the older age group as burdensome or undesirable should be resisted, and certainly such thinking should not be allowed to influence policy making.
It makes much greater sense to emphasize that healthy ageing is necessary and highly desirable—not just for the sake of older people's health, important as that is, but also for contributing in very significant ways to the well-being of the entire society.
We are speaking here of healthy ageing in a wider sense, to include physical, mental and spiritual health. Greater safety consciousness, as well as precautions that reduce the possibilities of chronic and other serious diseases, are important to minimize injury, disability and illness among older people. Many of these precautions and healthy habits need to start well before the onset of old age. If adequate caution is exercised, healthy habits are formed, and proper nutrition as well as exercise are ensured in the 50-60 age group, the possibilities of remaining healthy through the 60-70 years and beyond increase significantly.
Healthy ageing is valuable for society at several levels. If older family members are healthy, younger family members can be much more mobile in terms of making use of various work and career improvement opportunities, as the presence of healthy elderly family members at home ensures that care for children and other needs will be met. It is generally recognized that grandparents, as long as they are healthy, are able to take very good care of children, sometimes even in quite adverse conditions.
On the other hand, if older people are injured, disabled, or affected by serious and chronic disease, this is of course very distressing for them, but in addition it can also hold back younger family members from many kinds of wider work opportunities.
All this is even more important in the socio-cultural context of societies like those of India, where older parents have traditionally been seen as playing a very important role in imparting valuable social values or "sanskars" to children and younger people.
Hence, there is clearly a need for appreciating the importance of healthy ageing—particularly healthy ageing as understood in a more holistic way—in a much wider context. This can also be spoken of in terms of a "healthy ageing dividend" for society, as these older persons keep contributing to the well-being of the entire society in many valuable ways, although perhaps in less visible ways. The discourse on older age support must therefore be reframed in this wider context.
Dr. Sharad Iyengar, Chief Coordinator of a program for older persons called Prabal Yatra (an initiative in South Rajasthan by voluntary organization ARTH—Action Research and Training for Health), asserts that the wider relevance and significance of healthy ageing for the entire society must gain more firm recognition among people as well as at the level of policy making.
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The writer is Honorary Convener, Campaign to Save Earth Now. His recent books include Man over Machine, A Day in 2071, When the Two Streams Met and Hindi Cinema and Society
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