Healthier men close the longevity gap with women
Irish men are getting healthier and living almost as long as women, figures showed today.
Ireland also has the lowest number of pensioners in the EU as a share of population, Central Statistics Office data on ageing said.
The male death rate is now 51 per 1,000 compared with 44 per 1,000 for women.
The average life expectancy of men over 65 years increased by 1.6 years between 1995-2003 compared with 1.3 years for women.
“There has been a marked narrowing of the gap between the death rates for pensioners with the male rate coming more into line with the female rate,” said a CSO spokesman.
The ’Ageing in Ireland 2007’ report also said that about 11% of the population or 467,900 persons were aged 65 years and over in 2006 compared to the EU average of 17%.
The number of pensioners in Ireland has increased by 54,000 in the last decade.
Experts predict those aged 65 and over as a proportion of the 15-64 age group may increase from 16% in 2006 to 25% in 2026 for Ireland, compared with forecasts of 25% to 37% for the EU.
In 2005, around 20% of people aged 65 and over were at risk of poverty, which was substantially lower than the 2004 rate of 27%. This decrease was due mainly to an increase in the old age pension in 2005.
The report showed that older people are not as well educated as younger people.
“Primary or no formal education was the highest level of education attained for 48% of persons aged 65 and over in 2006. In contrast only 13% of the 25-64 age group had not progressed beyond this educational attainment level,” the CSO spokesman added.
More than 23% of male pensioners involved in voluntary work gave time to a sporting organisation while the corresponding rate for women was only 8%.
In 2006, 30% of persons aged 65 and over said they had a disability compared to 9% of all persons.
The proportion of people with a disability increased with age, rising rapidly from 19% for the 65-69 age group to 59% for the 85 and over age group.
A total of 14% of male pensioners in Ireland had jobs – double the 7% EU employment rate for the same age bracket. The difference for women was less marked with 4% compared to EU rate of 3%.
In 2006, 49% of men aged 65 and over who were employed were engaged in the agriculture, forestry and fishing sector compared to 13% of women.
In contrast female pensioners employed in the health sector was 23% compared to only 2% of men.
In the May 2002 general election, 86% of persons aged 65 and over voted. The main reason why pensioners did not vote was due to illness or disability, the Ageing in Ireland report said.
