Senior citizens say down but not out
(Picture used for representational purpose only)
Bengaluru: Senior citizens today are far from retirement, some want to explore new career avenues, pursue their passions, and want to engage in social good more actively, says a study.
The Positive Ageing Report published by Columbia Pacific Communities, India's largest senior living community operator, unveiled several facts about senior citizens that were quite contradictory to general perceptions.
The report was published after conducting face-to-face and telephonic interviews by Innovative Research Services (India) Pvt, with over 2,000 respondents above 18 years old residing in Bengaluru, Delhi, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Pune. The study considered those between 18 and 35 years as Gen Z and Millenials and those between 36 and 45 years as Gen X.
The study found that respondents over 60 (25%) preferred to identify themselves with their passions and interests. More men in their 60s are likely to identify themselves with their career than women while more women are likely to build their identity from their passion and interests.
It's a common stereotype that the older generation is not hooked to their phones but the study proved otherwise. As per the study, the number of women over 60 (36%) who spend over 4 hours daily on social media was greater than Millennial and Gen Z men together(22%), and twice as many as of millennial and Gen Z women (15%).
2/5 respondents over 60 believed that life begins at 60 as there is no work and plenty of time for leisure. Almost a third of the respondents also believed that they can focus and achieve their ambitions after turning 60.
"Considering several factors of the rapidly transforming world and the significant shift in our population demographic, we wanted to ascertain the future needs of seniors better. Therefore, we commissioned a survey on positive ageing, examining people across age-groups within three broad frameworks – identity, technology and health," said Mohit Nirula, CEO, Columbia Pacific Communities.
On the occasion of World Senior Citizen's day, Columbia Pacific Communities launched a new initiative #ReplyDontReject with the veteran actor, Boman Irani. The initiative is an appeal to the younger generations to reach out to senior citizens and to not ignore their messages.