FOUR OUT of five people over 50 say they are happy and in good health. Most are also financially secure – with a quarter of over 50s households able to give €5,000 or more to their children over the past decade.
A major study of the health, wealth and lifestyle of people aged 50 years and over published yesterday by Trinity College Dublin paints a positive picture of life for older Irish adults today.
The research, based on interviews and health assessments with more than 8,000 people, suggests that stereotypical views that older people don’t enjoy life, are lonely or are a drain on society are far from the truth.
Findings from the Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageingshow one in eight older adults enjoys a disposable income of €1,000 per week and a quarter of older households were wealthy enough to give a financial or material gift worth €5,000 or more to their children within the past decade.
The average size of the gift was €60,000, although gifts worth more than €200,000 have been recorded by researchers. The most common amount paid to children was €20,000, which may reflect parents helping their children with deposits for houses.
In comparison, just 9 per cent of people over 50 received similar gifts from their children. Seven out of 10 people over 50 own their own home and have paid off the mortgage. Some 13 per cent own a second home.
However, the study highlights a sharp divide between rich and poor with 29 per cent of older households living on weekly incomes of between €201 and €300. One fifth of people over 50 hold debts of an average of between €6,000-€10,000. There is a wide difference in the income, labour and health outcomes depending on the education levels attained by people.
For example people with a third-level qualification hold average savings worth €60,000, four times as much as those with only a primary education.
Some 35 per cent of people educated to primary level aged 50-64 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 educated older adults are employed between 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. Widespread fears of increasing levels of social isolation among older people are not borne out by the study, which found 90 per cent of people over 50 visit friends or family at least once a week. Three-quarters of older adults live in close proximity to at least one of their adult children
Some 6 per cent of women and 7 per cent of men are socially isolated, says the report.
Half of 50-64-year-olds with surviving parents help their parents with household tasks and a quarter of all 50- 64-year-olds provide personal care to elderly parents. The average amount of time spent on providing help to elderly parents is 10 hours per week, according to the survey.
The importance of family and spouse support for older people is highlighted by the low levels of State support with just 3.5 per cent of people over 50 receiving State-funded home help services.
However, the report highlights the huge amount of support provided by people over 50 years to their adult children. More than one-third of older adults provide practical household help including shopping and household chores to their adult children and nearly half provide care to grandchildren.
The report, based on health assessments and interviews between 2009 and 2011, shows 79 per cent of people say their health is excellent or very good. However, the study also shows three-quarters of people aged over 50 are either overweight (44 per cent) or obese (34 per cent). Cardiovascular diseases are the number one killer. Hypertension, angina and stroke are the 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 to 53.7 per cent for those aged 75 and over.