Four out of five people over 50 years of age are happy with their lives and say they are in excellent or good health.
A major study of the health, wealth and lifestyle published today by Trinity College Dublin paints a generally positive picture of the health, lifestyle and wealth of older Irish adults. However, it also reveals high levels of obesity, depression and under diagnosis of health problems among older people.
It found that one in eight older adults enjoy a disposable income of €1,000 per week and a quarter of older households were wealthy enough to give a financial gift worth €5,000 or more to their children within the past decade.
The average size of the gift was €60,000 but the most common amount paid to children was about €20,000, which may reflect deposits for houses.
Some 70 per cent of over 50s own their own home and have paid off their mortgages.
But the study highlights a sharp divide between rich and poor with 29 per cent of older households living on weekly incomes between €201 and 300.
There is a wide difference in the income, labour and health outcomes depending on the education levels they attained.
Some 35 per cent of people educated to primary level aged 50-64 years rely solely on state transfers as a source of income. This compares to 6 per cent of people in the same age group with a third level qualification.
About half of primary education older adults are employed between the ages of 50 to 64 years, compared to 70 per cent of those with a third level qualification. Individuals with a primary education also report higher levels of chronic lung disease compared to individuals with third level education.
The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing, which is being carried out by Trinity College Dublin in collaboration researchers from other colleges, is assessing the health and lifestyle of the over 50s during a ten year period until 2018.
Its initial findings, which are based on health assessments and interviews between 2009 and 2011, show 79 per cent of people say their health is either excellent or very good.
However, the study also show three quarter of people aged over 50 years are either objectively over-weight (44 per cent) or obese (34 per cent).
Cardiovascular diseases are the number one killer. Hypertension, angina and stroke are most common illnesses in men. Osteoporosis, arthritis and high cholesterol are more common in women.
The proportion of people with high blood pressure increases from 29.7 per cent for those aged 50- 64 years to 53.7 per cent for those aged 75 and over.
Many people who are sick are never diagnosed with problem. Some 58 per cent of cases of hypertension in men went undiagnosed. The rate for women was slightly lower at 49 per cent.
One in ten older adults suffer from clinical depression, although many are not diagnosed and do not receive treatment.