- Who this episode is for? Aging adults curious about how people age around the world.
- Topics covered in this podcast: Observations about the aging populations in the U.S. and the Republic of Ireland and takeaways from Nancy’s experience “across the pond.”
Greetings from Kylemore Abbey in the heart of Connemara on the west coast of Ireland. Can you hear the bells clanging to call the nuns to their noontime prayer time. Kylemore is in the mountains and was the first abbey to be established in Ireland by Benedictine nuns who fled from Belgium to escape the first World War. It is a beautiful and peaceful place today. The building was initially established as a romantic gift from a husband to his wife… Lord Henry and later become the abbey. It includes the convent, original house and a farm where they still grow vegetables, fruits and flowers. It’s a popular place to visit.
I made a recent trip to Ireland and came home with some lovely memories and experiences that I will share today and also some impressions on how the elderly live and interact with their communities there and spent some time looking at how the Republic of Ireland (which is independent national separate from England) deals with the issue of aging population. They’ve got a lot of the same issues there with the overall community aging and the younger community either dependent on their elders financially and otherwise or leaving the country for jobs elsewhere. I have some interesting observations to share in this episode of Boomer Time.
Baby Boomers are aging not just here but across the globe. I’ve mentioned it before, its been dubbed the “Silver Tsunami” and America is not the only country dealing with this issue. A significant portion of our population is aging and we can’t avoid it. But what you can do is plan now to be ahead of the wave and better prepared for your older years. That’s why I created this podcast.
As I mentioned, listen along as I share a perspective from Ireland – both a snapshot on the issues there when it comes to aging, what they are doing right and maybe not necessarily wrong but challenges that they face and what we might learn from all of that here.
How the Republic of Ireland is Aging
So here are a few general observations as to the aging in Ireland, takeaways good and/or bad as compared to us back here in the states – and most importantly things I think we can use as takeaways to encourage us and remind us to be prepared for our older years.
So Ireland’s population is aging faster than any other country in Europe. The number of people over age 65 is growing by 35 percent in the last decade and that is three times the rate of growth for the rest of the overall population. They estimate that by 2051 the older population over 65 in Ireland will double to 1.6 million. By the middle of this century that will equate to one in every 20 people on the island of Ireland being over age 85.
Another factor in all of this which has contributed to the population shift is the decline in fertility rates. Fewer younger people are having children. That with an increase in life expectancy has the Irish government is looking at strategies for its aging population.
One thing that I did notice and is a part of that strategy is that there is an intentional effort to encourage green space for walking whether it be with a pet, or a grandchild and I saw a lot of that in the towns and communities. In Westport, which is in County Mayo, there is a beautiful mansion which is known as Westport House and the acreage has been opened up to the community there which brings all kinds of folks to walk, etc. It’s a beautiful greenspace. You can also see that the manner in which the towns were constructed and grew over the years has encouraged that mobility and walking…there are city squares which offer shopping, restaurants, community space with sidewalks and those spaces stay busy.
So ironically, from an Irish perspective the older people in this country are far better off than they were 50-100 years ago. That’s a reference to that comment I heard of the good ole days were not really good. But the truth is that the older population in Ireland is more financially stable than the younger generation in a lot of ways:
- They have homes and property which they have worked over time and families stay in their homes until the end of their lives.
- There is a retirement system in the Republic of Ireland which (if you paid into it over the years) at age 65 you become eligible to start receiving benefits.
- This is an interesting factor as well for the car dependent households that live outside of the town centers – because that can create challenges if you don’t drive There are trains that can take you from one town to another but there is no mass transit in most of these smaller towns. Ireland there are no automatic renewals of driver’s licenses either. Once someone turns 72, the law requires that you apply for a one-year or three-year renewal and after you turn 75 you will be required to produce an additional certification at each renewal from your treating physician that you are able to drive, can see, etc.
- When it comes to long term care, the Republic of Ireland seems to primarily rely on unpaid caregivers who care at home and private pay healthcare worker. Nursing home care is an option under something known as the “Fair Deal Scheme” in which is designed so that you pay what you can afford, and financial support is otherwise subsidized. That’s not unlike some of our government entitlement programs here which are based on income. I don’t know if there is a recovery mandate in Ireland as there is here. The average cost of nursing home care, if that’s a necessary option is $1,564.00 euros a week. The value of the dollar is not as strong as it used to be, so that equates to about $1,700.00 a week or $6,800.00 a month. That’s lower than what we typically see here of about $10,000.00 a month for nursing home private pay.
It may also surprise you that in a study if older adults in Ireland which was done by the Irish Times which is the major newspaper in Ireland. It reported that older adults are generally far from being reliant on social support offered by the government. Instead, they are contributing more often both in time and in financial assistance to their children and grandchildren – rather than the other way around.
The study found that almost 50 percent of older adults in the Republic of Ireland help their adult children financially rather than the other way around which was just 3 percent.
½ of those older adults ages 54-74 provide regular child care for their grandchildren which contributes time averaging about 36 hours each month.
2/3 of older adults participate in a wider-range of activities like the tradition of going to the pub which is really less about drinking alcohol in Ireland than about socializing and visiting with your neighbors.
Lastly according to this study older adults are the backbone of the volunteer structure in Ireland. I did observe a actively engaged older community busy with those types of efforts whether it was the local theatre to volunteering for hospice care, etc. Of course, the dominant church in the Republic of Ireland is still the catholic church which you see a presence of that as well.
Most reports of hospitalizations appear to be for untreated or chronic health conditions rather than emergency visits and those are typically for individuals aged 80 and up.
When it comes to caregiver support, the Irish government has some tax relief programs in place where they will offer those reductions to individuals caring for family members or for the individual themselves if there is no one to care for them. There is also a death related benefit where they will offer support up to six weeks after the death of a loved one to a family member and 12 weeks for a caregiver.
Finally, I thought this was interesting – the government also offers a benefit to anyone upon their 100th birthday. It’s called the “centennial bounty” and its an award that is made by the President of Ireland to a citizen to mark their 100th birthday. It’s not anything significant but interesting.
A bonus: I spent some time with a distant relative of mine in Ireland and had a wonderful time. We couldn’t figure out the exact relationship but determined it would be some distant cousin. When my great grandfather and family left Ireland for Canada during the potato famine, his family stayed, and it appears that his great grandfather was a brother to my great grandfather. He also has O’Malley’s in his blood. We had a great time together and there was some connection, and I saw faint familiarity of my father in his face.
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