By Chris Harris
01/10 10:33 CET
TOP 20 PLACES TO AGE
Country ranking according to Global AgeWatch Index. See below for a full Europe list.Norway, Sweden and Switzerland make up the first three in the rankings, while Europe boasts 70% of the countries in the top 20.
The figures, published as part of HelpAge International's Global AgeWatch Index, measure four key areas: income security, health, personal capability and whether the person lives in an ‘enabling environment’.
The data – compiled to coincide with the UN International Day of Older Persons – reveals a striking disparity between northern and southern Europe.
All the European countries in the top 20 are in the northern half of the continent.
Spain (21st) is the highest southern country, while Greece is down in 73rd, behind India, Nepal and Bangladesh.
The HelpAge report pins part of the blame on government austerity programmes: “A comparison of Norway (1) and Portugal (37) highlights the difference that strong civil society and government support makes. While older people in Norway benefit from well-resourced older people’s associations, public recognition of ageing issues through the media and a long tradition of state welfare, older people in Portugal have borne the brunt of government austerity measures over the past four years.”
It adds there is a strong link between the top performing countries and the Human Development Index, a global measure of life expectancy, education, and income.
The report continues: “Exceptions are Greece (73) and Italy (39), which have lower pension
income coverage, employment and educational attainment rates, and enabling environment rankings than might be expected.
“Older people’s welfare has been affected by government austerity programmes in recent
years, affecting health services, and in the case of Greece, pensions.”
No comments:
Post a Comment