Values on a Grey Scale

Abstract

The elderly seem to have been getting younger and younger in recent decades. Many of today's older people are physically fitter than their counterparts half a century ago. Set against this positive image of old age and ageing are more sombre pictures of elderly people who become needy in their more advanced years and who become isolated from society. The increase in the older population in the coming decades and the consequences this will have for the affordability of care for the elderly and state pensions are a source of concern for policymakers. These changes, collectively referred to as 'population ageing', prompted the Dutch government to set out its views on the policy in relation to the elderly and ageing, culminating in the publication of a government memorandum on policy on the elderly against the background of population ageing, dubbed 'Memorandum 64'. The government expressed the intention of following up the results of its policy on the elderly through an Elderly Policy Monitor, to be published every two years. This trial edition of the Elderly Policy Monitor 2008 paints a statistical picture of the trend in population ageing in the policy domains employment, income, housing, health and care. The present situation is compared with the targets formulated by the government in 2005. The Monitor replaces the biannual Report on the Elderly.