People living with ill health for longer

[Posted: Tue 26/01/2010 by Deborah Condon - www.irishhealth.com]

Life expectancy in Ireland has increased significantly in the last century, however people are now living with ill health for longer, a new report has shown.

According to Illustrating Ageing in Ireland North and South, since the 1920s, Irish men have increased their life expectancy by around 20 years, while women have extended their average life span by 24-25 years.

However the number of years a man can expect to live in poor health has risen from 9.5 years in 1999 to 14.7 in 2007. Women meanwhile can now expect to live 16.8 years in bad health, a jump from 11.3 years in 1999.

The report by the Centre for Ageing Research and Development in Ireland (Cardi) also found that older workers in Northern Ireland have been more successful in weathering the recession compared to their southern counterparts. The number of people over the age of 60 still in work in the North actually rose through the first year of the downturn, while the number employed in the Republic fell by 7,000.

The report notes that the number of people in Ireland aged 65 and over will rise from 700,000 now to almost 1.9 million in 2041. During the same time period, the number of people over the age of 85 will likely increase five-fold, to 355,000.

According to Cardi, these figures emphasise the need for further research to ensure that sufficient planning is undertaken, so that adequate policies and services are in place for older people.