To achieve more just societies, dignified aging must be guaranteed through policies, institutions and solid legal frameworks that guarantee the realization of rights, with the highest possible level of quality of life, for older people, their families and communities. , strengthening intergenerational relations, raises a new report released today by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).
The document Aging in Latin America and the Caribbean: inclusion and rights of older personswas presented to the countries during the Fifth Regional Intergovernmental Conference on Aging and the Rights of Older Persons in Latin America and the Caribbeanwhich is held until Thursday, December 15 at ECLAC headquarters in Santiago, Chile.
The report presents the progress and achievements of the region in the implementation of the Madrid International Plan of Action on Aging in the last five years (2017-2022), while focusing on the challenges that remain in compliance with regional agreements on the subject.
The report provides an overview of aging and demographic trends in the region. It confirms that population aging is one of the main demographic phenomena in Latin America and the Caribbean and specifies that in 2022 there will be 88.6 million people over the age of 60 living in the region, who represent 13.4% of the total population, proportion that will reach 16.5% in 2030. The rapid aging process that the region is undergoing will mean that, in 2050, older people will reach 25.1% (193 million) of the total population, that is, there will be 2 1 times more elderly people than in 2022.
Likewise, life expectancy for both sexes has increased from 48.6 years in 1950 to 75.1 years in 2019. Despite the decline of 2.9 years in 2021 compared to 2019 due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, life expectancy is expected to continue to increase in the future, reaching 77.2 years in 2030.
“Aging is a matter of the highest priority, which requires urgent actions in various spheres, to make it visible and consider it from the perspectives of human rights, gender, interculturality and intersectionality, placing the protection of the rights of older persons at the center of public policy responses, and incorporating the vision and commitments emanating from international and regional instruments and agreements on the matter”, says José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs, Executive Secretary of ECLAC, in the document’s foreword.
The report adds that Latin America and the Caribbean went from being a young society to being a young adult society in 2021 and it is expected that in 2053 it will become an aging society: the group of people aged 60 and over will outnumber everyone. the other age groups.
“This phenomenon will bring with it enormous repercussions on public policies, which is why medium and long-term planning is required regarding labor, health, social protection and care policies, among others,” he highlights.
The document underlines that the implementation of the Madrid International Plan of Action on Aging has taken place in a global and regional context of profound social, economic, political, climatic and technological changes. In the case of Latin America and the Caribbean, moreover, it has occurred in a scenario of deep inequality in different dimensions, high levels of poverty and weakness of social protection and health systems. Along with this, the region has experienced the devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has further highlighted socioeconomic inequalities and inequalities in access to health and social protection services that affect the most vulnerable groups of the population. like that of the elderly.
Regarding the challenges of social protection coverage for the elderly, the document indicates that 25 countries in the region have non-contributory pensions for old age. It adds that, in 2020, in 13 Latin American countries, pensions mitigated an increase of 34.9 percentage points in poverty and 22.9 percentage points in extreme poverty. In the Caribbean, meanwhile, in seven countries, less than 50% of the population of legal retirement age has a contributory or non-contributory pension. In the case of Haiti, coverage reaches 0.4%.
The document analyzes the promotion of health and well-being in old age, and details the progress and challenges in the region in terms of health care policies for the elderly. Likewise, it examines compliance with the right of older people to live in environments that enhance their capabilities and foster their participation and autonomy.
The report dedicates a chapter to the right to care for the elderly and emphasizes that care is a central issue for life and development and cuts across all the priority orientations of the Madrid International Plan of Action on Aging.
Finally, it calls for including aging in government agendas, strengthening national legal frameworks for the protection of the elderly, universalizing the access of the elderly to social protection, health services and care, and providing education throughout of life, close the digital divide, and improve access to basic services.
The report also recommends overcoming age discrimination, especially in the labor market; Strengthen the mechanisms for collecting sociodemographic information disaggregated by age, sex, ethnic-racial belonging, morbidity and disability status, and expand the participation of older people in the development of public policies.