Aging & Social Change: Ninth Interdisciplinary Conference

Abstract

Sri Lanka is considered one of the fastest ageing countries in the world. Growth of both absolute and relative size of the elderly population made them more vulnerable to economic and health burdens. Social security benefits only limited to the small proportion of retired civil servants while the majority who depends on agricultural base expect various social assistance programmes. A qualitative comparative study comprised of 100 elderly (65+) was conducted covering both rural and urban areas in Colombo district. Relevant qualitative techniques used to analyze the data. Economic vulnerabilities are identified under three categories - economic well-being, health and morbidity, and social related factors such as gender, marital status, and living arrangements etc. Findings reveal that poverty, gender, educational status, marital status, area of residence, consumption patterns, and living arrangement of elderly, occupy a prominent place in made them more exposure to the economic burden. Health hazards such as chronic diseases, decline of cognitive, physical functioning and disability would rise and add to enhance the economic pressure of elders as the higher life expectancy leads to higher health care expenditures. It was reveals that women are in a more disadvantaged position to bear the economic burden since the feminization of ageing is prevalent in many developing countries. The findings suggest that the economic vulnerabilities of the elderly should be more addressed by the government according to the changing values and traditions. The study also presents some policy options that can be adopted to support the economically socially and healthily unsecure elders.