Population Aging Phenomenon in the Indian Context

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The 20th Century has been an era of unprecedented scientific achievement. We have seen a significant increase in life expectancy around the globe. In 1947, when India became independent of British rule, life expectancy wavered around 32 years. By 2000, however, life expectancy had nearly doubled to 63 years (Population Reference Bureau, 2002). While several factors have contributed to the increase in life expectancy, the role of medical advancement in reducing high mortality can not be ignored. The crude death rate has changed from 27.4 in 1950s to 8.5 in 2000 (United Nations, 2002a). Accompanying these trends is a decrease in the overall fertility rate, from 5.97 in 1950 to 3.0 in 2002 (United Nations, 2002b). The shift from high fertility/ high mortality to lower fertility/ lower mortality resulting in a higher proportion of older adults is a common trend in developing countries. However, while countries like France experienced the shift over a period of 125 years, India has seen this change in a greatly condensed time-span of approximately 35 years. Within India, the state of Kerala has been classifed as an “aging state”. The combination of a low mortality rate and low fertility rate has resulted in the proportion of elderly increasing at a substantial pace. The 1961 Kerala census reported the number of elderly aged 60 and above was just one million people or 6% of the population (census of India, 1984). By 1991, this number had increased to 2.6 million or 9% of the population which is a 160% incrase (Government of Kerala, 1991). It is predicted that the number of elderly in Kerala will reach 7.2 million or 20% of the population in 2021 and 37% in 2051 (Rajan, Mishra and Sarma, 1999). Within the context of population aging, we have observed a higher proportion of older women in our societies. In 1961, women over 60 years represented 6% of Kerala’s population. This figure increased to 11.5% in 2001 and is projected to increase to 19.5% by 2026 (Bhat and Rajan, 1989). This phenomenon is referred to as the feminisation of aging.