Deprivation and poverty among elderly in India

Abstract

Population ageing is one of the most discussed global phenomena in the present century. It is generally referred to in terms of the growing share of older individuals in the total population. India has the second highest count of elderly population, which is to the tune of 77 million. The vulnerability and deprivation of the elderly in matters of health, economic dependence and familial support is of much concern under the evolving conditions of socio-economic transformation. Vulnerability arises primarily due to lack of newlinepreparedness to accommodate the expected risks, which become inevitable with various newlineforms of dependence, be it physical, economic, familial or emotional. The present study is founded on the observation that aging reduces welfare and that newlineconsequently various forms of deprivation become imminent with increasing age. The newlinestudy considers consumption poverty alongside various forms of material and nonmaterial newlinedeprivation including the deprivation in accessing health care. It unfolds the newlinedynamics of poverty and deprivation that are conditioned by familial and social newlinecircumstances. The study also includes a specific case study of Kerala, the most newlinedemographically transformed state, to reflect on the aspects of vulnerability among the newlineelderly that may evolve with time in other states of India. Another significant feature of this case study is that it attempts to highlight the response to changing societal newlineconditioning in relation to care for the elderly.