Workshop: Sri Lanka Addressing the Needs of an Aging Population
Ms Naoko Ishii
World Bank Country Director
Sri Lanka
Speech at the workshop on
Sri Lanka: Addressing the Needs of an Aging Population
Taj Samudra Hotel, Colombo, Sri Lanka,
September 9, 2008
Hon. Athauda Seneviratne, Minister of Labour Relations and Foreign Employment
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen
Good morning everyone. Thank you, Minister Seneviratne, for taking the time to join this distinguished audience today as we look at the issues of aging in Sri Lanka.
Though I am honoured to be given an opportunity to open the workshop, and I am happy to introduce the author of this report, Milan our senior economist, who must be known to many of you, I also proudly say that this report is a joint product between the concerned people in Sri Lanka, including Aging Study Steering Committee, government officials, academics, NGOs and private sector, and the World Bank. This topic of aging is of the most critical issues these days, yet we have not observed much public discussions on this rather critical issue despite its long-term importance. As such we the Bank feel we want to at least bring this issue up as an agenda for public discussion for the people in Sri Lanka. That is the whole purpose of today’s workshop.
In slightly more than two decades, Sri Lanka’s population will grow to be as old as Europe or Japan’s today, but its level of income will be much lower. Sri Lanka as such faces serious challenges on several fronts in addressing the onset of rapid aging. In developed countries, challenges of aging are associated primarily with the negative impact of aging on economic growth, and the need to plan for additional public and private expenditure for old age income support and healthcare. In Sri Lanka these challenges are much more complex and this report the Bank focuses on 4 main issues.
· family support of elderly
· formal income support programs
· Health status and healthcare system, and
· Labour market
The key findings of the report are as follows:
· Regarding family and the elderly, the family is the main support of the elderly, but there are signs of emerging strains in the traditional support system.
· Formal old age income support systems have limited coverage, inadequate benefits and are financially unsustainable.
· Health Care systems are not ready to address the needs of an aging population.
· The increased share of elderly in population will increase economic pressure on budgetary expenditure and overall growth.
Let me say a few more words about what this report finds about the key pillar of present support of the elderly – family support, as I find them particularly important for public discussion. The report finds that families at present take good care of their elderly family members and the elderly are by and large satisfied with current arrangements and expect these arrangements to continue in the future. However the report also finds some signs that the traditional support system is under strain:
· Primary caregivers, mainly women, who both work and care for their children and parents; including providing support for assisted living, report considerable stress in their lives.
· Despite being the last resort, an increased number of elderly stay in residential care (homes for elderly), with elderly noting that demanding working lives of their children were responsible for the institutionalisation.
· There is also some evidence that, as in higher income countries, those elderly who can afford to do so prefer to live alone with their spouse.
Therefore, as the dependency ration increases with aging, the burden of care on primary caregivers may increase significantly. Long-term care by the family for the elderly may decline as a result, putting pressure on the healthcare system. Alternatively, if families continue to provide care, this may well impose opportunity costs for caregivers in terms of forgone labour market participation. Support to families taking care of an increasing number of elderly over a longer period of time through cost effective community-based social care services and income support (pensions, safety nets) for the elderly, may be required – the option largely non-existent in Sri Lanka today. Particular attention will therefore be needed to ensure adequate safety nets and social care services are targeted to aged and widowed women who are the most vulnerable population group among the elderly.
I hope the report and this workshop will raise awareness about the needs – and actions to address these needs – related to population aging. The report provides a host of policy recommendations in all key areas, and I hope today’s workshop will be followed by public policy debates, which will guide the Government of Sri Lanka for policy actions. Indeed, investing a healthy and productive aging starts with necessary actions NOW – This is crucial for reducing the burden of aging in Sri Lanka. The policies noted in the report will not need to be finalised carefully, with involvement of several line ministries, given their inter-sectoral linkages. In most cases, these policy changes would have to be phased in gradually, and they would take several years or even decades to implement. The fiscal costs of these policies will also need to be carefully analysed to ensure their overall stability. Given the need of the population aging over the next two decades, delays in action are likely to prove costly. In order to avert an aging crisis in Sri Lanka, preparations to address aging will gave to begin sooner rather than later: inaction is not a viable alternative.
I trust today’s workshop will help nurture health discussion among all of you and the people of Sri Lanka
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