A chara, – Your Editorial (“Elderly take over”, January 13th) was ill-informed, ageist and nothing more than cheap scaremongering. While your statistics are correct, the position that older people are good for nothing more than living off the State is outdated.
Older people contribute to Irish society in a variety of ways, not least of which is their organisation of active retirement associations and their voluntary work throughout the country. Their longer lives and better health in old age should be celebrated, not treated as a burden to be shouldered by younger generations.
What your Editorial fails to point out is that, along with an increase in over-65s, fertility rates will decrease worldwide, leading not just to a fall in education spending, but also to a decrease in other social welfare costs such as children’s allowance.
Also, an increase in population in any age group leads to an increase in spending and VAT revenue.
You also fail to mention that 45 countries worldwide will see a decrease in overall population. This number includes European nations such as Germany, which alone will see a decline of more than 10 per cent in its population by 2050. This will lead to the availability of further EU funds, should our ageing populace cause the problems you so grimly foresee.
While changes must be made in all facets of life to future-proof our society, they needn’t be the negative ones envisaged in your article. Active Retirement Ireland, through our European partners AGE Platform Europe, are working towards a future in which ageist policies of mandatory retirement and ageist attitudes towards older people are consigned to history.
Hard choices always have to be made. We contend, however, that in relation to older people, they should not be made on a solely economic basis, but also based upon older people’s contributions to society – both in their working lives and in retirement. – Is mise,
PETER KAVANAGH,
Information and Networking
Officer,
Active Retirement Ireland,
Shamrock Chambers,
Eustace Street,
Dublin 2.
Madam, – Thank you for highlighting the fact that Ireland has one of the fastest-growing elderly populations in Europe.
In 50 years’ time, there will be two people of working age to support one pensioner. No combination of State agencies will be able to cope with this demographic time-bomb.
We need to prepare now by introducing “service to the community” as a required subject at all education levels so that it becomes integral to the social development of our young people. The Nordic nations are already doing this. – Yours, etc,