Newsletter 3: January 2009
Social Protection and Ageing

Using data from Census 2001and the National Sample Survey 52nd and 60th a recent paper on Ageing in India by Prof. Moneer Alam of Institute of Economic Growth, New Delhi identifies that (i) ageing in India is a wide spread phenomenon and therefore an issue for serious consideration, (ii) almost in every state the aged are concentrated in rural areas and need to be weighed accordingly in formulations of old age policies, (iii) feminization of ageing, widowhood and rapid growth of the older old are emerging issues for researchers, service providers, insurers, 50+ market analysts, and those in the realm of public policies, and (iv) old age health is found to be critically dependent on socio-economic conditions including access to public health facilities. The specific value addition provided by this paper is its focus on rural ageing that has so far been paid minimal attention in the recent economic literature on ageing in India.