The Coming Carer Drought

In the early 1900?s caring for the elderly was pretty simple. There were lots of maiden aunts, fewer elderly because of higher mortality and family generations lived close to one another. In 1910 there were 10 women aged 50 to 64 for every person aged over 80. Now the ratio is 2.5 and by 2040 it will have fallen to 1.0. This is not meant to imply that women should do all the caring but reflects the fact that 70% of carers are women.

These revelations come from Dr Simon Kelly of NATSEM as presented this week to the Office of Senior Victorians. Other interesting statistics he quoted are:

* There are 2.5 million informal carers

* The peak age range of carers is 45 to 64

* 50% of primary carers of people over 65 do not live with the person cared for

* Of people cared for, 40% are partners, 21% parents and 25% children

You can download Dr Kelly?s presentation at http://www.natsem.canberra.edu.au/publication.jsp?titleID=CP0510

All FinDem News Items:

News Items by Topic: