Quality of Life for Elderly Index

• 13 Aug 2021

On 11^th August 2021, ‘Quality of Life for Elderly Index’ was released by Dr Bibek Debroy, Chairman, Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM).

• The Index has been created by the Institute for Competitiveness at the request of EAC-PM and it sheds light on an issue often not mentioned- problems faced by the elderly.
• The report identifies the regional patterns of ageing across Indian States and assesses the overall ageing situation in India.
• The report presents a deeper insight into how well India is doing to support the well-being of its ageing population.

The Index framework includes four pillars and eight sub-pillars:

Four Pillars: Financial Well-being, Social Well-being, Health System and Income Security

Eight Sub-Pillars: Economic Empowerment, Educational Attainment & Employment, Social Status, Physical Security, Basic Health, Psychological Wellbeing, Social Security and Enabling Environment.

Key Highlights from the Report

• The Health System pillar observes the highest national average, 66.97 at an all-India level, followed by 62.34 in Social Well-being. Financial Well-being observes a score of 44.7, which is lowered by the low performance of 21 States across the Education Attainment & Employment pillar, which showcases scope for improvement
• States have performed particularly worse in the Income Security pillar because over half of the States have a score below the national average, i.e., 33.03 in Income Security, which is the lowest across all pillars. These pillar-wise analyses help States assess the state of the elderly population and identify existing gaps that obstruct their growth
• Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh are top-scoring regions in Aged and Relatively Aged States, respectively. Chandigarh and Mizoram are top-scoring regions in Union Territory and North-East States category. The Aged States refer to States with an elderly population of more than 5 million, whereas Relatively Aged States refer to States with an Elderly population of less than 5 million.

Utility of this Index

• The index can help the nation identify areas that need improvement and grab the current opportunity to start putting positive changes in motion for the next decades.
• The index also promotes healthy competition among States through fair rankings and highlights the pillars and indicators they can improve.
• Using this index as a tool, the State governments and the stakeholders can identify the areas they need to work upon to provide their older generation with a comfortable life.

Category-wise Rankings of Quality of Life for Elderly Scores (Top 3)