15th January 2013
If you are retired, aged 60 years or older, please take a few minutes to answer our questionnaire below. We are now living in a world where a number of countries have more older people than younger people. Demographers refer …
If you are retired, aged 60 years or older, please take a few minutes to answer our questionnaire below.
We are now living in a world where a number of countries have more older people than younger people. Demographers refer to this ‘population ageing’. In Europe, we are facing an unprecedented demographic revolution.The changes in age structure and the extraordinary increase in longevity, have lead us to rethink older people’s place in the society. Until recently, most of us considered retirement to be a phase of life more or less devoted to a combination of unpaid activities, including volunteering, caring for family members, taking care of ourselves and leisure time.
For example, life expectancy in France rose from 25 years in 1750 to 80 years in 2008 and has almost doubled in 100 years. At the same time, retirement periods increased by 20 years between 1960 and 2010. Economic and health consequences of this increased duration of the retirement period are important. The challenge is to live this period in good health, to prevent the risk of developing age-related diseases and if possible to add economic value to the community. Several recent studies in various populations have shown that participation in social activities offered more protection against cognitive decline than just keeping in touch with friends and relatives. The social environment of the elderly is very important and single people with a low social environment seem more at risk of developing dementia. Maintaining seniors in professional activity should also help in preventing the occurrence of cognitive disorders.
Objective of the questionnaire
ILC- France and ILC- Japan are leading this initiative to better understand how older people are living out their retirement years, and in particular, want to understand and enhance our knowledge of how those age 60 and over are leading their lives in terms of their relationship with society, their activities and their health status.
Responses will form part of the background information for us to develop our study on productive ageing. The study will compile and compare the data from all of the participating countries and make them available on the ILC Global Alliance website.
If you are happy to complete the survey, please do so when possible. Personal information such as names and contact details are not requested on the questionnaire, so all responses will remain anonymous.
ILC-France and ILC-Japan sincerely appreciate your cooperation and support.
Questionnaire in French
Questionnaire in English
Lead Contact : Marie-Anne BRIEU, ILC-France (brieu@aol.com)
