id21 viewpoints

Invisible and neglected: the absence of older people in development

Older people are mostly overlooked in development activities and neglected by educators, activists, practitioners and governments worldwide, says Valerie Lipman, visiting Fellow at the University of Bristol (Medical Research Council) and formerly with Age Concern.

How can the next generation of development professionals learn about older people? Should UK-based development studies courses address older people more explicitly in their curricula?

Developed countries assume that families can and do take care of their older relatives. Evidence shows, however, that older people are not well looked after, despite the best efforts of their families, local community and society. Modernisation of jobs and housing, wars and migration are contributing to the breakdown of traditional family support mechanisms. Children are moving to the city, leaving older people behind. There are fewer children able to support the increasing elderly population and filial support, while still strong, is under stress and being eroded.

Older people are now the world's fastest growing population group: by 2050 one person in five will be over sixty and for the first time ever people in this age group will outnumber children. The majority, 62 percent, live in poorer countries. This will increase to 75 percent by 2030. By 2020 Cuba, Argentina, Thailand and Sri Lanka will have a higher proportion of over-65s than the United States of America. Eastern European countries are ageing even faster than those of Western Europe.

Lipman's paper provides an overview of how far UK-based post-graduate development studies courses address older people in their taught programmes. Findings show that older people are invisible and neglected and that there is a need to raise awareness amongst academics, international NGOs and practitioners of older people's needs and their contribution to society. It is disingenuous for development theorists, practitioners and development and humanitarian agencies to state that working with elders is synonymous with addressing the needs of older people.

Findings also show that development studies departments are not interested in addressing the interests and needs of older people; and that international NGOs (apart from HelpAge International) do not actively seek to integrate the needs of older people into their agendas.

University staff interviewed for this research acknowledged that equality is an important part of their development studies courses, yet not a single one included any planned work on ageing or ageism. For example: ‘[University name] is very good at including different peoples in the participation process – women, poor people, indigenous people all get special attention. I don't know how older people are incorporated'.

Other comments from interviewees in development studies departments include, ‘ this is not really my scene …' and ‘older people [are seen] as having a negative impact on development … in the arena of economic livelihoods older people are seen as dependent and not contributing'.

Comments gathered from international NGOs include: ‘We're not able to deal with all areas of specialist interest, while mainstreaming gender and disability as well' and ‘We would need a targeted approach to get to older people' .

If those working in development adopt human rights-based and participatory approaches to development and talk about respect and dignity for everyone, older people cannot be neglected. To ensure that policymakers and practitioners pay more attention to the rights, interests and needs of older people, several options are possible:

• Development studies departments can help increase the visibility of older people by including them in their course curricula and suggesting areas for further research.
• Further research could explore how older people are viewed, how and where their needs are addressed, and whether development programmes take their needs into consideration.
• Further work could also look at how international NGOs approach development, in particular, how do they address the needs of ageing populations?

Older people need to be seen as part of the cure - not just part of the problem. They have an important role to play in development and are an integral part of the economy. They bring wisdom and experience and have rights alongside everyone else whether or not they still actively contribute to the economy.

Valerie Lipman
Garden Flat
22 Farndon Road
Oxford OX2 6RT
T el: 07749 199666
Email valerielipman2003@yahoo.co.uk for the original report.

Further information
‘State of the World's Older People', HelpAge International, 2002 http://www.helpage.org/Resources/Policyreports
‘Conditionality' and ‘Limits' of Filial Obligation ' , Working Paper Series No 205, Oxford Institute of Ageing, by Isabella Aboderin, 2005 PDF version: ttp://www.ageing.ox.ac.uk/publications/oia%20wp%20205%20aboderin.pdf ‘The Erosion of Traditional Forms of Care for the Elderly and its Implication for the Elder in Nigeria' by Uzoma Odera Okoye, 2004 PDF version: http://www.uaps.org/confageing/uzoma%20okoye.pdf
‘Do Children Act as Old Age Security in Rural India? Evidence from an analysis of Elderly Living Arrangements' by Sarmistha Pal, 2004 PDF version: http://econwpa.wustl.edu:8089/eps/lab/papers/0405/0405002.pdf

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