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Male life expectancy catching up

 

Ageing in Ireland published by the CSO today examines the lives of people aged 65 & over in Ireland.

 

About 11.0% of the population (467,900 persons) were aged 65 & over in 2006. Ireland has the lowest proportion of its population aged 65 & over among EU countries and is well below the EU average of nearly 17%. The number of people aged 65 & over in Ireland has increased by 54,000 in the last decade.

 

Under certain assumptions, population projections suggest that the old dependency ratio (population aged 65 & over as a proportion of the 15-64 age group) may increase from 16% in 2006 to 25% in 2026 for Ireland, and from 25% to 37% for the EU.

 

There has been a significant narrowing of the gap between the death rates for men and women aged 65 & over, with the male rate coming more into line with the female rate. The male rate decreased from 77 per 1,000 in 1980 to 51 in 2005. The corresponding female rates were 60 and 44. The life expectancy of men at age 65 increased from 13.8 years in 1995-1997 to 15.4 years in 2001-2003.The corresponding figures for women were 17.4 and 18.7 years.

 

Between 1996 and 2005 there was a considerable shift from State non-contributory pensions to State contributory pensions. In 1996, 58% of State pensions were contributory, by 2005 this had risen to 72%.

 

In 2005, around 20% of people aged 65 & over were at risk of poverty, which was substantially lower than the 2004 rate of 27%. This decrease was due mainly to an increase in the old age pension in 2005.

 

Older people are not as well educated as younger people. Primary or no formal education was the highest level of education attained for 48% of persons aged 65 & over in 2006. In contrast only 13% of the 25-64 age group had not progressed beyond this educational attainment level.

 

Over 23% of men aged 65 & over involved in voluntary work did so for a sporting organisation, the corresponding rate for women was 8%.

 

In 2006, 30% of persons aged 65 & over indicated they had a disability compared to 9% of all persons. The proportion of persons with a disability increased with age, rising rapidly from 19% for the 65-69 age group to 59% for the 85 & over age group.

 

Men aged 65 & over in Ireland had a much higher rate of employment than the EU average, 14% compared to 7%. The difference for women was less marked (4% compared to EU rate of 3%). Men and women in this age group were engaged
in quite different sectors of the economy. In 2006, 49% of men aged 65 & over who were employed were engaged in the agriculture, forestry and fishing sector compared to 13% of women. In contrast the proportion of women at work aged 65 & over employed in the health sector was 23% compared to only 2% of men.

 

In the May 2002 general election, 86% of persons aged 65 & over voted. The main reason why persons aged 65 & over did not vote was due to illness or disability.

 

 

Editor's note

Ageing in Ireland, 2007 is available on the CSO web site (www.cso.ie)

 

The report may be purchased from:
The Central Statistics Office, Information Section, Skehard Road, Cork
Government Publications Sales Office, Sun Alliance House, Molesworth Street, Dublin 2
or through any bookseller.

Price: €5

 

For further information: contact Norita Murphy (01 498 4295) or Gerry Brady (01 498 4201)

 

Central Statistics Office

08 August 2007

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