Audit of Residential Facilities, Final report - Division for Social Policy ...

under normal circumstances would be very unlikely that everyone would say the samething.CHAPTER 2OVERALL CONTEXT OF OLDER PERSONS2.1 IntroductionThis chapter outlines the overall context of older persons highlighting some international trendswith regard to ageing. It also provides a brief overview of ageing in South Africa addressingmainly the demographic trends as well as the legislative context that should provide the enablingenvironment for older persons.2.2 Defining AgedAt the moment, there is no United Nations standard numerical criterion, but the UN agreed cut offis 60+ years to refer to the older population. Realistically, if a definition in Africa is to bedeveloped, it should be either 50 or 55 years of age, but even this is somewhat arbitrary andintroduces additional problems of data comparability across nations. The more traditional Africandefinitions of an elder or 'elderly' person correlate with the chronological ages of 50 to 65 years,depending on the setting, the region and the country. Lacking an accepted and acceptabledefinition, in many instances the age at which a person became eligible for statutory andoccupational retirement pensions has become the default definition. The ages of 60 and 65 yearsare often used, despite its arbitrary nature, for which the origins and surrounding debates can befollowed from the end of the 1800's through the mid 1900's. (Thane, 1978 & 1989; Roebuck1979)2.3 The World’s ageing PopulationPopulation ageing refers to a rising share of older people living in our societies and this will beaccompanied by a shrinking population overall. This phenomenon is mostly prevalent in Europe.A European comparative analysis shows that the challenge and extent of the population ageingis different for each country even within the European region. Spain, for example is absorbing amuch quicker rise in the share of older people than most of the other European countries such asGreat Britain. Table 1 shows figures on ageing in the world‟s regions and in a few specificcountries.20 | D S D A u d i t o f R e s i d e n t i a l F a c i l i t i e s