Older Australians more than earn their keep. In South
Australia alone they contribute between $5 billion and $9 billion each year to the State
economy.
Contrary to the popular belief that an ageing population is a drain on the community, a
recent SA Department of Human Services report, Ageing and the economy in South
Australia: Social capital and productive ageing, shows that older people in fact make
a valuable contribution by being engaged in productive activity for an average of 42 hours
per week.
Writers of the report, Dr Rob
Ranzijn, research gerontologist at the University of South Australia, and Professor
Gary Andrews, director of the Centre for Ageing Studies, found that about 60 per cent of
this time is spent on household chores, but a substantial amount is devoted to unpaid work
for other people, including making things like toys or clothes, child care, care of other
adults, formal volunteering, and work for recreational and service organisations.
The monetary value of this activity was extrapolated for the older population as a
whole - about 200,000 people aged 65 or more. This was calculated to be worth between $5
billion and $9 billion per year. Work performed for people outside the household was
calculated to be worth between $800 million and $1.4 billion per year. In addition,
non-pension income such as investments brings in $500 million per year.
The total cost of pensions and health care, including nursing homes and medicines, was
calculated to be about $1.8 billion per year, making the dollar contribution of SA’s
older citizens between $3.2 billion and $7.2 billion annually.
"We concluded that older people in South Australia are very productive and that
they earn their keep," said Dr Ranzijn.
"These figures do not include the incalculable value of non-tangible contributions
such as providing wisdom, guidance, and family cohesion. How can you put a dollar value on
such things?
"In the study we also found that the urge to contribute is innate and that most
older people do not want to withdraw from society but rather remain involved and
contributing as long as they can."
The report was commissioned and funded by the Office for the Ageing to calculate the
balance between the monetary value of productive ageing and the cost to society of
maintaining older people in health and comfort. The $80,000 project was conducted at the
Centre for Ageing Studies with a multidisciplinary collaborative research team consisting
of researchers and personnel from all three SA universities as well as the Council on the
Ageing.
Six focus groups were conducted in metropolitan Adelaide and in Renmark, Mt Gambier and
Whyalla. The quantitative survey was in two parts, a telephone interview and a
self-completed inventory of goods and services produced over a one-week period. A total of
391 people aged 65 to 101 years participated.
The full report is available from the SA Department of Human Services as part of the
Ageing Series (No. 7).
Media contact: Jessie Byrne, (08) 8302 0578, AH (08) 8355 0081
