Elderly Population to Increase

KOMPAS/FERGANATA INDRA RIATMOKO

Elderly people shop at Ngancar Market, Banyudono district, Boyolali, Central Java, on Sunday (18/8/2019). Central Java has one of the largest populations of the elderly in the country.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — Indonesia had a population of nearly 25 million in 2018. This figure is expected to rise threefold by Indonesia’s centennial in 2045. If they continue to burden the country’s working age population, efforts to establish high-quality human resources will be difficult to realize.

Indonesia will have an aging population starting in 2021, when more than 10 percent of its citizens will be elderly. The country experienced a baby boom in the 1960s and 1970s, and a growth in the elderly population early this century.

Indonesian Coalition for Population and Development chairman Sonny H.B. Harmadi said on Sunday (18/8/2019) in Jakarta that population aging was due to an increase in life expectancy and the end of the demographic bonus in 2040.

The demographic bonus refers to a working age population that is larger than the population of dependent children.

This happened at the same time as the slowdown in population growth with a decreasing birth rate. However, the growing elderly population must be monitored, as this would add to the burden of the working age population. Sonny said it was therefore important to prepare today’s elderly to remain productive and prevent burdening others (in terms of their health).

The current situation presents huge challenges in maintaining healthy, dignified and productive elderly people. Data from the World Health Organization (WHO) shows that the average life expectancy for Indonesia was 69.1 in 2015. However, the healthy life expectancy is 62.1. This means that the average Indonesian is of poor health and unproductive in the final seven years of life.

“Indonesia is unprepared to face a population growth of senior citizens,” said Siti Setiati, who chairs the Indonesian Medical Gerontology Association.

This is not all about health. Many senior citizens in Indonesia today do not have savings or a pension. Many must continue to work to support themselves, as well as their children and grandchildren. Many are neglected and live without an income, housing or family support.

This is what happened to Damari, 61, of Banjer subdistrict in Manado, North Sulawesi. He lives alone and works odd jobs to earn a daily income, including cleaning gutters and toilets and fixing damaged roofs and fences. He stopped selling meatballs and working as an ojek (motorcycle taxi) driver nine years ago, when his son asked him to stay at home.

Damari’s son works in Makassar, South Sulawesi, and occasionally sends him Rp 500,000 (US$35.12). This is not much, but Damari cannot hope for much more, as his son has a family. “Often, I eat only once a day. Sometimes I don’t eat at all and just bear the hunger. If I cannot take it anymore, I end up owing money to a food stall,” he said, laughing heartily.

Ciprianus Manugoa, 70, who retired from the private sector in Surabaya without a pension, also must work in his twilight years. To fulfill his daily needs, he works at a newspaper distribution agency. “I earn below the city’s minimum wage, but it’s enough for me and my wife,” he said.

On his paltry income, he has to share a house with his children and other relatives. However, what is most important to him is that he stays healthy, since getting sick will only make life more difficult – even though he holds a National Health Insurance-Indonesian Health Card (JKN-KIS).

Having a pension does not mean all needs are met. Since retiring from the civil service, 63-year-old Yudha Sukardi has opened a refilling shop for drinking water gallons. “It’s not bad in terms of income. My pension is enough, but there isn’t much savings,” he said.

Preparation

The limitations today’s elderly face mean that future generations of elderly must start preparing today. Those born before 1975 will reach old age in 2035.

Around 70 percent of those born before 1975 have only finished elementary school. The low level of their education has led to low productivity and in turn, low incomes and savings.

This is worsened by their unhealthy lifestyle. The 2018 Basic Health Research reported a tobacco consumption prevalence of 33.8 percent, with two out of three males consuming tobacco.

This figure illustrates the quality of Indonesia’s elderly population. In addition to facing a heightened risk of various degenerative diseases, they also have low productivity and have no savings or pensions.

“With today’s universal healthcare insurance, this will place an extraordinary burden on the health budget,” said Sonny. The Health and Social Security Agency (BPJS Kesehatan) would incur high losses.

Aside from burdening the government, an unproductive and sickly elderly population will also burden working age people – basically their children and grandchildren. Working age people will find it difficult to invest towards their own retirement, leading to a vicious cycle of poor and sickly elderly.

Sonny stressed that developing high-quality human resources – the government’s priority development goal for the next five years – would be difficult to achieve if developing the elderly population was neglected.

In addition to improving the health of senior citizens, skills improvement was also necessary, especially in the face of Industry 4.0. The existing senior insurance system must be expanded to cover informal workers, who form a a majority in today’s workforce. (TAN/OKA/ETA/SYA/MZW)