Seniors in institutions: what standard of living?

2023-04-27 14:37:55

The Department of Research, Studies, Evaluation and Statistics (DREES) publishes a study on the living standards of people aged 60 or over who live in accommodation establishments for dependent elderly people (Ehpad), accommodation establishments for the elderly (EHPA) or long-term care units (USLD ) in 2016. This study, carried out using data from the CARE-Institutions survey matched with socio-fiscal data, is enriched by an analysis of pensions at a sub-national level resulting from work on the tax declarations of residents of non-residential nursing homes. married.

Widowed men have higher living standards than other residents
In 2016, 4% of people aged 60 or over lived in an institution for the elderly. Of these 600,000 residents, half have a standard of living between 1,100 and 1,920 euros per month. The median standard of living is 1,400 euros. Seniors aged 75 or over in institutions (i.e. the vast majority of people who live there) have a standard of living 15% lower than that of seniors of the same age living in ordinary housing. Widowed men, who represent 9% of seniors in institutions, have a higher standard of living than other seniors in institutions. Half of them receive more than 1,850 euros per month. The standard of living of widowed women, who represent more than half of seniors in institutions, is well below that of widowed men : the difference, in median, is 410 euros per month. Widowed people are in a more favorable situation than single, divorced or separated people. Half of the latter have a standard of living of less than 1,150 euros per month.

« 83% of seniors’ standard of living comes from individual income«

Low living standards for younger residents
Seniors under 75, who are more often single, are distinguished by a lower standard of living. Half of them have less than 1,150 euros per month, while the median standard of living for the other age groups is between 1,370 euros for those aged 80 to 85 and 1,480 for those aged 90 or over. Seniors under 75 who are single and not widowed (7% of seniors in institutions) have a particular profile: they are more often men, they entered institutions younger and have been living in institutions for longer than the senior citizens together. A third of them are recognized as disabled by the administration and are particularly precarious.

« 97% of seniors in institutions receive a retirement pension and 77% of residents have income from assets«

Higher living standards in private for-profit institutions
The standard of living of seniors is significantly higher in private for-profit establishments (which accommodate 20% of seniors in institutions) [graphique]. Half of the seniors who live there have a standard of living of more than 1,870 euros per month. In private non-profit establishments (29% of seniors welcomed), the median is 1,400 euros per month; it is 1,300 euros in public establishments (51% of seniors accommodated). Whatever the senior’s marital status, the standard of living is always higher in private for-profit establishments. Conversely, except for widowers, the standard of living is systematically lower in public hospitals.
The pensions of nursing home residents are closely linked to the standard of living of the municipality in which they are located. However, regardless of the municipality’s median standard of living decile, residents of profit-making private nursing homes have higher pensions than in other categories of establishment.

Graph: Median standard of living of the elderly by type of household and establishment

• Half of seniors in institutions have a standard of living of between 1,100 and 1,900 euros per month. Studies and results, Drees, n°1264, April 2023. (PDF)