Older People in Ireland

Living much longer has major implications for the retirement system since we retire at the retirement age as in 1900s (i.e. 65): in the 1900s the life expectancy was around 44 for a male and 48 for a female. In 2000 it was mid-80s for a male and late 80s for a female. A female born today has a 50% chance to live to 100 (from RPC; Reinventing Retirement Workshop July 2009 Intel)

From the CSO 2007 ‘Ageing in Ireland’ Report:

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. (Central Statistics Office Ireland 2007)
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. (Central Statistics Office Ireland 2007)
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. (Central Statistics Office Ireland 2007)
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%. (Central Statistics Office Ireland 2007)
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. (Central Statistics Office Ireland 2007)
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. (Central Statistics Office Ireland 2007)
Over 23% of men aged 65 & over involved in voluntary work did so for a sporting organisation, the corresponding rate for women was 8%. (Central Statistics Office Ireland 2007)
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. (Central Statistics Office Ireland 2007)
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. (Central Statistics Office Ireland 2007)
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. (Central Statistics Office Ireland 2007)

Older Women and employment (all from Facts About Older Women in Ireland 2008):

For both women and men aged over 65, overall employment rates remained fairly stable between 1997 and 2005, with men’s employment staying at around the 14% to 15% level, well above women’s participation rates of around 3%. In 2006 women’s employment rate rose a little to 4.2%. (p 47)
The number of older women employed in the over 65 age group is only 11% of the 55-64 age group, whereas for men it is 17%. (Table 3.2 and 3.3 p. 49)
The other category with an unexpected rise in rate of employment is in manufacturing where the proportion of older women working is higher in the over 65 age group by about a third compared with the 45-54 group (see Table A.5 in Appendix and Figure 3.4 for details) (p. 51)
Men had a far higher full-time employment rate than women, and the difference in the fulltime employment rate rose dramatically with increasing age.
In the 60-64 age group, more than three times the number of men than women were employed, with a gender difference of 35.8%.
In the over 70 age group, although significantly fewer people overall were employed, more than nine times the number of men were employed, with a gender difference of 5.1%
Older women’s rates of part-time employment were higher than men’s from 60 –70.
In the over 70 age group, men had a much higher rate of part-time AND full-time employment.
Older women’s part-time employment fell substantially from 16.3% for the 60-64 age group to 1.3% for the over 70’s – a decrease to 1/12 of the original, whereas men’s part-time employment only halved over the same age-groups. (p. 53)
13.7% of women over the age of 65 are at risk of poverty, which is the same as: Just over 1 in 7 women over the age of 65 at risk of poverty, which in numbers is 35,734 women over the age of 65 who are at risk of poverty (13.7% of 260,831) (p. 57)