{"id":69859,"date":"2014-10-01T00:05:24","date_gmt":"2014-09-30T22:05:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=69859"},"modified":"2014-10-01T10:34:32","modified_gmt":"2014-10-01T08:34:32","slug":"south-africa-among-worst-countries-for-the-elderly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/trending\/69859\/south-africa-among-worst-countries-for-the-elderly\/","title":{"rendered":"South Africa among worst countries for the elderly"},"content":{"rendered":"

South Africa ranks as one of the worst places in the world for the elderly, according to the Global AgeWatch Index.<\/p>\n

The Global AgeWatch Index 2014, compiled by HelpAge International, presents a snapshot of the conditions for older people in 96 countries of the world today, highlighting which countries are doing best for their older populations.<\/p>\n

The ranking links with policies towards pensions, health, education, employment and the social environment in which older people live.<\/p>\n

The index looks at 4 main categories, namely: income security (pensions and employment opportunities); status of health (free or subsidised healthcare); capability (education) and the degree of an enabling environment for the elderly.<\/p>\n

The index represents 790 million people – 91% or nine out of ten people over 60 across the world.<\/p>\n

Notably,\u00a0HelpAge found that overall, the world faces a global problem when it comes to pensions.<\/p>\n

“This year\u2019s report focuses on income security, which older people consistently identify as their top priority,”\u00a0HelpAge said.<\/p>\n

“While some countries have made substantial progress towards guaranteeing basic income security in old age, half of the world\u2019s population can still expect to spend their old age without a pension.”<\/p>\n

The Index shows that Norway is the best country to be old in. Apart from Japan (9), all the top 10 countries are in Western Europe, North America and Australasia.<\/p>\n

10 best countries for the elderly<\/h3>\n
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
#<\/strong><\/td>\nCountry<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1<\/td>\nNorway<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2<\/td>\nSweden<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
3<\/td>\nSwitzerland<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
4<\/td>\nCanada<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
5<\/td>\nGermany<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
6<\/td>\nNetherlands<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
7<\/td>\nIceland<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
8<\/td>\nUnited States<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
9<\/td>\nJapan<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
10<\/td>\nNew Zealand<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table><\/div>\n

The top 20 countries enjoy high gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, have high-coverage pension systems, high levels of healthcare provision, and supportive social environments.<\/p>\n

The worst country to be old in is Afghanistan, according to the report, with a poor showing from African nations, where the life expectancy is low. Mauritius is the only African nation to rank above 50.<\/p>\n

“In the lowest quarter, we find conspicuously low income security rankings, together with poor health results,”\u00a0HelpAge said.<\/p>\n

10 worst countries for the elderly<\/h3>\n
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
#<\/strong><\/td>\nCountry<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
96<\/td>\nAfghanistan<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
95<\/td>\nMozambique<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
94<\/td>\nWest Bank & Gaza<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
93<\/td>\nMalawi<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
92<\/td>\nTanzania<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
91<\/td>\nPakistan<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
90<\/td>\nJordan<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
89<\/td>\nUganda<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
88<\/td>\nZambia<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
87<\/td>\nIraq<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table><\/div>\n

South Africa’s elderly<\/h3>\n

South Africa – the second best performing country in Africa after Mauritus – didn’t perform poorly across all categories, particularly due to improvements in income security; however, healthcare and safety is still problematic, the report said.<\/p>\n

“South Africa ranks low on the Index at 80 overall, but is the second-highest in its region,” HelpAge said.<\/p>\n

“It performs best in the income security domain, a significant increase from its 2013 ranking (46th) due to improved pension coverage data and the contribution of a social pension system.”<\/p>\n

South Africa<\/h3>\n
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Category<\/strong><\/td>\nRank<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Income security<\/td>\n19<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Capability<\/td>\n75<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Enabling environment<\/td>\n83<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Health status<\/td>\n89<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Overall<\/strong><\/td>\n80<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table><\/div>\n

South Africa performed poorly in the enabling environment domain, due to below regional averages on older people\u2019s satisfaction with their safety (31%) and civic freedom (66%).<\/p>\n

The country ranked lowest in the health domain (89), with life expectancy at 60 below the regional average.<\/p>\n

More on South Africa<\/h3>\n

Best cars in South Africa<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Highest paid CEOs in South Africa<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

South Africa\u2019s cheapest bank accounts<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

South Africa broadband vs the world<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

South Africa ranks as one of the worst places in the world for the elderly, according to the Global AgeWatch Index.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":69863,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[8911,8913,26],"class_list":["post-69859","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-trending","tag-elderly","tag-global-agewatch-index","tag-headline"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69859","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=69859"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69859\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":69921,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69859\/revisions\/69921"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/69863"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69859"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69859"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69859"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}