A retirement-age state

On October 1, Ukraine and the rest of the world will observe the International Day of Older Persons. People aged 60 and over account for 21 percent of Ukraine’s population today. According to a forecast by the Institute of Demography and Social Studies, one in three Ukrainians will be 60 plus in 50 years’ time (at the most optimistic estimate). Even now, the largest part of all governmental social expenditures is aimed at social transfers connected with old-age people (pension, privileges, etc.). Demographers are saying that Ukraine is always under the threat of a serious pension-related conflict because a considerable part of pensioners claim, and rightly so, that they cannot survive on their pension. On the other hand, the aggregate pension contribution is about 40 percent of the wages today. Accordingly, all, including hired labor, employers, and pensioners, remain unsatisfied.

Demographers and gerontologists (specialists who study the problems of aging) are convinced that depopulation is unavoidable and the only way to more or less improve the economic and social picture is to attract pensioners to active life. This includes later retirement, particularly of women (the economic aspect), and participation in social programs, socially useful activities, and volunteering. For it has been proven that an old-age person, who is doing social or other useful work and feels that he or she is in demand, has a better health and lives a longer life (add to this moderate, albeit systematic, physical exercises).

There are things to do here. According to various surveys, most of Ukraine’s pensioners (46 percent) usually spend their free time before TV screens. Thirteen percent prefer reading, 12 percent work on dacha farmlands, 8 percent mingle with friends and 3 percent with relatives. Less than one percent goes in for sport and travel. As for television, experts at the Bohomolets National Medical University say that watching TV for more than seven hours a day in an old age catalyzes Alzheimer’s disease.

COMMENTARIES

Vladyslav BEZRUKOV, Doctor of Medicine; Director, Institute of Gerontology, National Academy of Medical Sciences, Ukraine:

“There are huge problems, as far as popularization of a healthy way of life and social activity of pensioners in Ukraine is concerned. For example, a poll of Ukrainians aged 60 and over showed that 40 percent know about wellness rules and 2 percent obey them, even though physical activity is very important in old age. Only 10 percent of the over-60s in Ukraine do morning exercises in contrast to 60 percent in Western Europe and 90 percent in Japan. However, our surveys show that in Kyiv 80 percent of those aged 60 and above are still physically active. The experiment showed that three-year-long physical exercises brought about the following change in men: their biological age had been seven and a half years lower than their calendar age by the end of that period. But in the men who led a customary way of life, biological age was an average four times as low as their calendar age.

“Social activity is also very important. In 1985 our institute worked out methods for third-age universities. We created several programs that can promote social activity and wellness of people. The methods devised at the Institute of Gerontology are not practically being applied now (they only began to be applied at enterprises in the Soviet period). Their essence is very good – to make a pre-retirement-age person form a positive attitude to pension. For, as a rule, pre-retirement-age people are not prepared for retirement – they have no plans about how to live and what to do in this period of their life, while a change in the way of life and limited communication have a negative effect on feelings and health. All this can be reduced or eliminated by way of systematic preparations for retirement age.”

Ella LIBANOVA, Director, Mykhailo Ptukha Institute of Demography and Social Studies:

“Aging is inevitably going to grow at a high rate in Ukraine and in other countries of Europe. In these conditions, society must care about the participation of old people in public life. But why are we concerned over this? There are two answers: either we are worried about the degree of our people’s satisfaction with life, or we worry about how to cut social expenses to keep up old-age people. Thirty percent of old-age women and 22 percent of men are fully or partially satisfied with their life. Speaking of reduced expenditures for the upkeep of old people, Ukraine spends 67 percent of the aggregate social expenses for old-age-related social transfers, while the EU spends 39 percent (I mean 27 European Union states, including Bulgaria, Poland, Romania, and some other countries that are economically close to us). This means a country like ours cannot afford in this case to spend money to keep up families and children, for medical care, and for the disabled (1 percent in Ukraine and 8 percent in the EU).

“There can be the most diverse forms of old people’s participation in public life, but, first of all, there should be no social isolation. As a matter of fact, I would single out four forms: the first is a continued professional employment, the second is volunteering and working in NGOs, the third is family care, and the fourth is active leisure and sport. Unfortunately, Ukraine’s experience in attracting old people to social life is so far unsatisfactory, for there is an obvious lack of interest on the part of the state and civil society. What can the state do? To introduce lifelong learning so that people have a desire to study, develop, and be active even in old age. Secondly, there is such an unavoidable thing as having to raise the age of retirement. Ukraine has a wide margin for this because women have an average life expectancy of 24 years after reaching the age of retirement. It is also necessary to cut early retirement privileges and, naturally, there should be economic incentives for retiring at a later age.”