Analysis of socio-economic aspects of the quality of life of seniors in Slovakia This professional article deals with an analysis of the social and economic aspects of the status of seniors in present-day society. Its purpose is mainly to present new knowledge about the quality of life and status of older citizens in Slovakia based on the analysis of this issue.
Introduction
The presented academic article deals with the analysis of the social and economic aspects of the status of seniors in contemporary society. Its aim is, above all, to provide new knowledge about the quality of life and status of older people in Slovakia based on the analysis of this issue.
Population Ageing
Population ageing can generally be defined as the rapid increase in the relative number of older population groups in society. This phenomenon is tracked through three indicators, namely the ageing index, average population age, and life expectancy, i.e. the average number of years of life among persons of both sexes at the given age, assuming that mortality patterns do not change (Štatistický úrad SR, 2014). Because of population ageing, society usually undergoes many major changes. These include changes in the content of political programs—when the age structure changes significantly, the political preferences of older voters become central—as well as changes in the social system and, for example, a change in the perception of the meaning and need for lifelong learning. The rapidly increasing number of older people of retirement age is automatically associated with higher costs for health and social care services. From an economic perspective, there is also a need for restructuring and continuous increasing of the retirement age and pension security. Economic, social, medical, psychological, and even political questions become central in this context. In comparison with other European countries, Slovakia so far still belongs to the less “aged” ones. In the National Programme on Active Ageing for 2014–2020 it is stated that while the EU is expected to lose 15 % of labour force by 2050 due to population ageing, Slovakia may face a shortage of around 21 %. Slovakia will therefore not only be older, but because it is smaller, it is also expected to be more ethnically limited. If current birth rates are maintained, there is even a projection that in the second half of the 21st century we will be one of the oldest populations in Europe.
Social and Economic Aspects of Seniors’ Quality of Life
The quality of life of seniors reflects, beyond health, psychological and emotional experience, several variable factors. These include, for example, the ability to adapt, participation in social life, ways of spending leisure time, as well as social environment, i.e. the quality of social relationships and more. The socio-economic dimension of seniors’ quality of life includes all aspects related to social environment, financial and material security, transportation, safety, health care and social services, as well as access to information and other resources available in society. This dimension is monitored using indicators such as gross domestic product, life expectancy, and population literacy. In Slovakia, life expectancy is 76.7 years, although large differences between genders remain. While men live on average 73.1 years, women live 80.2 years on average. Differences also exist regarding socio-economic groups of the population. People with low educational attainment live on average about ten years less than people with higher education (OECD, 2017). Social old age is characterised by changes in social roles, lifestyle and economic security. It includes several negative aspects, including social exclusion, prejudice and age discrimination, generational intolerance, segregation, and higher morbidity or atypical disease progression, a reduced ability to express one’s own needs, loss of orientation in social affairs due to fast technological progress, and more. In addition, it may include residential changes, limitations in or loss of social contacts, weakened interactions, or loneliness.
Ageism
Seniors form a population group that is largely at risk of age discrimination—so-called ageism. This phenomenon is manifested through a wide range of phenomena at both individual and institutional levels. Attitudes toward understanding it include two levels. The first is discrimination, prejudice, and systematic application of stereotypes, usually based on an incorrect understanding of qualitative inequalities across life stages and highly subjective perceptions of the senior population. The second level is the seniors’ own feeling of discrimination, which is based on lack of respect for their self-worth or negative attitudes toward old age as such (Nelson, 2017). As is widely known, the rights of older people are not sufficiently protected by the current legal system. Individual state policies have failed to adequately implement and include the rights of senior citizens in laws, budgets, and policy statements, which is also shown by the persistently high level of ageism in society.
The Position of Seniors on the Labour Market
The position of seniors on the labour market is one of the key factors influencing the future development of Slovak society, and in particular, citizens of pre-retirement age are among the most vulnerable groups in the labour market. It is important to recognise that, due to population ageing, this group will become increasingly numerous within the workforce. Therefore, labour market measures triggered by ageing of the workforce should first and foremost consider developments in this group. Overall labour force participation and employment rates are influenced to some extent by both age structure and the possibility of obtaining certain educational qualifications. As a survey by TASR shows, at present only 30 % of all companies and of small and medium-sized entrepreneurs in Slovakia with annual turnover above 200,000 EUR employ seniors. Most seniors in these firms work full-time. Only 27 % of firms reported that at most half of their employed seniors work reduced hours, and only a fifth said that more than half of their employed seniors have reduced working hours. On average, 52 % of older employees work 40 to 160 hours per month, while approximately 28 % of employed seniors work more than 160 hours per month. The roles seniors occupy vary. Their tasks most frequently include administrative and accounting work, professional office tasks, maintenance, guarding facilities, and the like (TASR, 2018).
In relation to the labour market, the growing number of older people is often viewed negatively, as a burden on younger workers. It is expected that, just as people live longer, they will also work just as long. It is important to recognise, however, that today’s seniors are in much better conditions than in the past, especially in health. In addition, they possess valuable experience and skills that can be passed on to younger generations. Their professional and social competencies gained during their careers represent a specific potential.
Retirement
A major change occurs with retirement, as a result of which not only a senior’s economic and financial situation changes, usually for the worse, but also the entire previous way of life. Seniors form a consumer group with specific requirements and needs, and the largest part of their purchasing power comes from their pension entitlements. In higher-income countries, characteristics of seniors as consumers are taken into account, mainly by business entities and service providers. This creates substantial purchasing power. Less affluent countries, however, rely more on family support for seniors and emphasise financial planning and active preparation for retirement.
Pensions currently represent a large and continuously growing share of public expenditures, averaging more than 10 % of GDP. For this reason, pension security is a question that concerns all citizens. The basic and most significant pension benefit is the old-age pension. The old-age pension is provided by the Social Insurance Agency from old-age insurance and under conditions established by Act No. 461/2003 Z. z. on social insurance. A person is entitled to an old-age pension if they have been insured for at least 15 years and have reached retirement age. Retirement age is currently set at 62 years.
With regard to Slovakia specifically, according to the latest information, pension benefits in 2019 will be increased either by 2.6 % or by a minimum indexation amount for that type of pension, whichever is more favourable to the pensioner. Seniors whose old-age pension is below 334,70 € will have the pension increased by 8,70 €. In the case of early old-age pension, the amount is 8,30 €. The increase will apply to all seniors receiving a pension raised to the minimum pension level. Social Insurance Agency, as of 1 January 2019, will also automatically reassess entitlement to minimum pension in relation to the change in the minimum living standard, so older people will not need to apply for this reassessment (Višváder; Rodinová, 2018).
RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
The main goal of the research carried out was the analysis and comparison of the resulting values of socio-economic aspects of the quality of life of seniors living in their own home environment and the quality of life of seniors who are clients of social service institutions in Slovakia. The socio-economic aspects of quality of life include chiefly financial and material security, safety, opportunities for further advancement in life, the degree of participation in social life, access to information and other resources available in society, as well as social relationship quality, support from close people, opportunities for further education, and more. Additional aims were set: • To determine how safely seniors feel in their lives and to compare these data depending on whether the senior is or is not a client of a social services facility. • To determine the degree to which seniors have experienced age-based discrimination and to compare this depending on whether the senior is or is not a client of a social services facility.
At the beginning of the research project, we formulated several questions. The main one was, among others, a question about factors affecting the quality of life of seniors in Slovakia, mainly its socio-economic dimension. In order to answer this, it was necessary to examine not only one dimension (the socio-economic one), but all dimensions of the quality of life of older citizens. These are closely interconnected and affect each other.
Methods of Investigation and Research Sample Characteristics
The empirical research had the character of quantitative analysis. A modified and shortened version of the WHOQL-Old questionnaire containing 15 questions was used for data collection. We supplemented it with questions to obtain demographic information from respondents (age, place of residence, education, and social services or institutional care client status) and with a question on age discrimination. Through this we asked seniors directly whether they had personally experienced discrimination due to age. We used descriptive analysis, contingency tables, graphs, and so on to assess the collected data. To test hypotheses, we used a non-parametric chi-square test. The research sample consisted of 224 respondents—seniors aged 62 and over. At the time of our study, 42.4 % of this number were in institutional care, while the remaining 57.6 % were seniors living in their own home environment. The sample included 65.6 % women and 34.4 % men. The average age of respondents was 65.7 years.
Results and Discussion
The questions in the WHOQL-Old questionnaire were categorised into these areas: • physical health aspects - Q2, Q3, Q4, Q13, • psychological aspects - Q5, Q10, Q11, Q15, • socio-economic aspects, including social environment, interactions, safety, access to information and material security – Q6, Q7, Q8, Q9, Q12, Q14, • and overall satisfaction with quality of life - Q1.
In the next part of the text, we present the results of socio-economic aspects, i.e. the quality-of-life domain of seniors in Slovakia, as well as their comparison based on whether a senior is or is not a client of a social services institution. In addition to client status, an indicator was respondents’ assessment of quality of life using a Likert scale from 1 to 5.
Living in an institution can trigger negative emotions for seniors, such as anxiety, meaninglessness, or stress, which can also be caused by the anonymity and uniformity of those institutions. Society can provide seniors with services, such as meals, accommodation, and medical care, but it cannot give them meaning in life or create an emotional foundation. On the other hand, seniors who are clients of social services institutions positively assess primarily the fact that they live in a community and do not feel lonely. Their contact with other people has improved and is at a stable level, and they are able to spend more of their time on hobbies and leisure activities. In the home, most daily matters are taken care of, so they have much fewer routine worries themselves. For this reason, as visible in the tables and in the computed chi-square value (3.796), there is no significant difference in life satisfaction regarding socio-economic aspects between institutionalized seniors and those living in their own home environments.
Our next goal was to determine how safely seniors feel in their daily lives and to compare this data depending on whether a senior is or is not a client of a social services institution. As the research results show, only about 2/3 of the respondents (64 %) feel safe in their daily lives, while more than 1/3 do not feel safe. Seniors who are clients of social services facilities feel safer in their lives to a greater extent (75 %) than seniors living in home environments (56 %).
Our final goal was to determine the extent of seniors’ experiences of age-based discrimination and compare it depending on whether a senior is or is not a client of a social services institution. The comparison of the obtained data, i.e. seniors’ experiences of ageism depending on client status in social services institutions, is shown in the following table.
Nearly half (46.9 %) of all respondents reported personal experience with age discrimination. As is visible from the table above, seniors who are clients of institutions report such experiences more often (56.8 %). From practice it is known that the human rights of seniors are not sufficiently ensured by the current legal system. Older people often do not know their rights well enough, and even if they do, they do not know how to defend them adequately. The most vulnerable groups among seniors include especially women, unemployed retirees, disabled pensioners, and very old seniors. These groups, particularly disabled and very old seniors who are no longer employed, make up the largest part of clients in social care institutions.
Conclusion
In relation to the senior population, the term quality of life is appearing more and more frequently, and there are many factors influencing seniors’ quality of life. These are factors of internal and external environment, subjective and objective, which can be further categorised as medical, psychological, and socio-economic. Then there is the aging process itself, which contributes significantly to how we feel in old age and what the quality of our lives is. It depends on how we age. The aim of active preparation for old age is to pass the final stage of life in the best possible physical condition and mental health. Fulfilling this aim, however, is not as simple as it may seem at first glance. At the individual level, it is not enough to start adopting the concept of active aging only shortly before reaching senior age. For active old age and the opportunity to apply one’s potential during this period, one must prepare in some way throughout one’s life. At the societal level, we also face many barriers, obstacles, and, not least, the prejudices of the majority. The value system of contemporary society is structured in a way that celebrates youth’s biologically determined competencies and attributes such as performance, vitality, energy, among others, while older age is often associated with negative attitudes. Similarly, society tends to classify seniors as a less active category of old-age pensioners, which disadvantages older citizens relative to the majority society and confronts them with an ever-changing social environment. They often find themselves in such borderline situations from which they cannot find a way out on their own. It is necessary to realise, however, that the senior population is an integral part of society and has enormous potential not only for employment but also for active participation in life across all social structures. The senior population is equally significant in social work, for which it is not only a target, subject, clientele, or in other words, recipient of care, help, and services, but also a provider, both on a volunteer and professional basis. The aim of social work is to provide older citizens with appropriate help based on knowledge of and respect for their rights and needs, to improve the quality of their lives at every level, and to ensure that seniors can live old age with dignity and especially with happiness.
Conclusion
With regard to the senior population, the term of quality of life is becoming increasingly common, with many factors influencing the quality of life of seniors. These are factors of the internal and external environment, subjective and objective, which can be further categorized as medical, psychological or social-economic.Then it is the very process of aging, which contributes to a great extent to how old you feel or what is the quality of our lives. It depends on how we get old. The aim of an active preparation for an old age is to survive the final stage of life in the best possible physical condition and mental health. However,fulfilling this effort is not as easy as it might seem at first glance. In an individual's level, it is not enough to start learning the concept of active aging just before reaching seniority. Active aging and the opportunity to apply your potential during this period need to be prepared during the whole time in your life. As far as the all-society level of aging is concerned, we also encounter many barriers, obstacles and, last but not least, the prejudices of the majority. The value system of today's society is set in a way that highlights the biologically-conditioned competencies of youth and attributes such as performance, vitality, energy, or others, while the negative attitudes are retained in the old age. Similarly, the social status of seniors is included in the inefficient category of old-age pensioners by society, with the result that elderly people are disadvantaged and confronted with a constantly changing social environment. They are unlucky enough to find themselves in such hard situations and they have no power to find a way out. However, it is necessary to realize that the senior population is an integral part of society and has a huge potential not only for employment but also for active participation in the life of all social structures. Equally important is the senior population in social work, for which it is not only the target, the subject, the clientele, or in other words theprovider of the care, assistance and services, but also the provider, both on a volunteer and a professional basis. The aim of social work is to provide elderly people with adequate help, based on knowledge and respect for their rights and needs, to improve the quality of their lives in every level, and to provide senior citizens with conditions in the social environment that will enable them to survive in dignity and, above all, happily.
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