Press Statement

Preasráiteas

30 September 2022

Go to release: Older Persons Information Hub

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) have launched an interactive Older Persons Information Hub today (30 September 2022) in recognition of International Day for Older Persons taking place tomorrow, 01 October 2022.

The Older Persons Information Hub provides a snapshot of the lives of older people in Ireland highlighting social and economic indicators from a broad range of CSO publications and surveys.

Commenting on the launch of the Hub, Sarah Crilly, Statistician in the Health Division of the CSO, said: “The population of Ireland is aging, with life expectancy increasing and older people continuing to be an active and vibrant part of our community. The story of older people in Ireland is a complex one and needs to be told in a balanced way. Older people lead varied lives, and this Hub, which brings together 46 different indicators under a number of different themes, provides a gateway into the key factors which influence the quality of the lives of older people.” 

Social Indicators

Commenting on Social Indicators included in the Hub, Sarah Crilly said: “The social aspect of the publication includes health, education statistics, as well as indicators of important life events and day to day activities. This reflects the full and varied lives led by older people in our community. We see older people continue to marry, with 829 people who are aged 60 and over tying the knot in 2021, with twice as many grooms who were that age than brides. In the last 10 years, the number of people aged 70 and over with a full driving licence has almost doubled to 331,000 in 2021. We can also see that older people are more giving of their time to their community in comparison to younger age groups with almost one-third of carers aged from 65-74 caring for a non-family member on a weekly basis. Almost three quarters ( 72%) of people aged 65 and over feel fairly safe or very safe walking at night in their local area. More people aged 65 and over have trust in individuals than people aged 18-44, at 84% and 71% respectively.”

Other Key Social Indicator Highlights:

• While two-thirds of those aged 65-70 are overweight or obese, 60% of people aged 75 and over consider their health to be good or very good
• Just 6% of people aged 75 and over smoke daily in comparison to 19% of those aged 25-34
• More than 224,000 people aged 65 and over have no formal education or a primary school level of education compared with just over 17,000 people aged 25-34
• Over 156,000 people aged 65 or over lived alone in private households in 2016
• In 2016, 65-year-old women were expected to live a further 21 years and 65-year-old men were expected to live a further 18 years based on projections
• More than 26,000 people aged 65 and over were resident in hospitals or nursing homes in 2016

Economic Indicators

Commenting on the Economic Indicators included in the Hub, Sarah Crilly said: “Older people in Ireland continue to participate in the economy. Many continue to work, run farms, or act as carers in the community. We can see that as recently as April, May, and June of this year (Q2 2022), 106,000 people aged 65 and over were in active employment working an average of 32 hours per week. This compares to an average of 38 hours per week for those aged 25-34. Older people are also taking holidays and mini breaks, with an estimated 469,000 people who were aged 65 and over taking an overnight trip for personal reasons in 2021. Older people in employment are less likely to be absent due to health problems with only 8% of those aged 65-74 absent from work for this reason in the previous 12 months in 2019, compared to 22% of those aged 25-34."

Other Key Economic Indicator Highlights:

• The percentage of farm holders who are aged 65 and over has been increasing over the last 30 years, from 23% in 1991 to 33% in 2020
• In 2021, a higher percentage of people aged 65 and over experience consistent poverty (11.9% ) than those aged 18-34 (8.7%), but older people are at a higher risk of poverty
• Two-thirds of those aged 65 and over have some level of confidence in Ireland reducing greenhouse gasses in the next 10 years compared to 60% of people aged 18-44
• Almost half of all journeys that older people take are for shopping, eating, and drinking
• Almost two-thirds of older people use private cars for journeys, while about a third of older people aged 75 and over regularly take the bus
• Private pension coverage of people in employment aged 55-69 has increased from 69% in 2019 to 74% in 2021

About the Older Persons Information Hub

There are many ways to understand the lives of older people – seeing changes over time, comparing indicators across a broad range of CSO publications, and looking more deeply at the intergenerational differences within Ireland.  The Hub provides indicators sourced from a range of CSO publications and surveys. The Older Persons Information Hub is located on the main CSO’s website or can be accessed directly here and covers the following themes, encompassing a range of objective and subjective measures:

1. Snapshot
2. Ageing Population
3. Health
4. Crime
5. Housing
6. Income and Poverty
7. Education
8. Attitudes and Perceptions
9. Travel and Tourism
10. Activity
11. Life Events
12. Employment
13. Older Carers and Social Supports
14. Internet Usage
15. Drivers and Road Safety

Commenting on the Older Persons Information Hub, Sarah Crilly said: “Given the range of many different objective and subjective measures, it is very difficult to create a complete snapshot of the lives of older people in Ireland. The Hub contains 46 different indicators, divided into specific themes.  These indicators can be analysed by areas such as  age and sex. Individuals will, depending on their own experiences, naturally assign different weights to the relative importance to each of the Older Person themes. One of the aims of the Hub is to provide an accessible facility for users to examine areas for themselves and to draw out their own understanding of particular aspects of the lives of older people A key feature of the Hub is that it is interactive – the Hub is linked to the primary data source which underpins it, and so will automatically update when the primary data source is updated. This innovation ensures that the Hub will remain up to date and will provide real-time insight into the lives of older people in Ireland. More extensive data and related analysis is still available for those users that require a more in-depth understanding.”

Further information on International Day of the Older Person

The United Nations (UN) chose 01 October to the International Day of the Older Person. International Days are occasions to educate the public on issues of concern, to mobilise political will and resources to address global problems, and to celebrate and reinforce achievements of humanity. The 2022 theme is the resilience and contribution of older women. 

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