Active Ageing Index: a new monitoring tool for MIPAA/RIS?

Vitalija Gaučaitė Wittich Chief, Population Unit, UNECE

26 September 2013, Berlin

German Centre of Gerontology

Content

International policy framework Ageing in UNECE region Active Ageing Index:*

aims & policy context methodological approach results for 27 EU countries next steps * Based in part on Policy brief “Introducing the Active Ageing Index” (2013) and some earlier presentations by the project partners

Milestones 1982

First World Assembly on Ageing, Vienna

April 2002 Second World Assembly on Ageing, Madrid

September 2002

UNECE Ministerial Conference on Ageing, Berlin

November 2007 UNECE Ministerial Conference on Ageing, León

September 2012

UNECE Ministerial Conference on Ageing, Vienna European Year of Active Ageing and Solidarity between Generations

Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing

& UNECE Regional Implementation Strategy

(MIPAA/RIS)

• both adopted in 2002 • provide main policy framework • commitments in ten key areas • on-going monitoring & implementation

review every five years

International Policy Framework

MIPAA/RIS second review & appraisal:

results

3 main achievements and main challenges

Participation (C2)

Social protection (C4)

Labour markets (C5)

Health and well-being (C7)

Achievements 17 30 14 20 Challenges 6 17 17 22

Number of countries reporting:

2012 Vienna Ministerial Declaration: goals

I. Longer working live is encouraged and ability to work is maintained

II. Participation, non-discrimination and social inclusion of older persons are promoted

III. Dignity, health and independence in older age are promoted and safeguarded

IV. Intergenerational solidarity is maintained and enhanced

Context • 2002-2007: high economic growth, rising labour market participation,

declining unemployment, progress in improving social services • 2007-2012: financial crisis economic, social and political instability • 2012-2017: lasting effects of crisis, reforms & post-crisis recovery(?)

Demographic change 2002: 13% ≥ 65 years old; 35.4 years - median age 2012: 14% ≥ 65 years old; 37.6 years – median age 2030(f): 20% ≥ 65 years old; 41.8 years – median age

Entering 3rd MIPAA/RIS implementation cycle

Current situation: UNECE region*

• 174.5 million people are ≥ 65 years old • Life expectancy is high but with important disparities

between countries and between genders: • Women at birth: from 70 years to 85.6 years • Men at birth: from 63 years to 80.8 years

• Health-adjusted life expectancy at ≥ 65 accounts for • more than 50% of all remaining life expectancy for men • slightly below 50% for women

* Source: IIASA (2013). Population Trends and Policies in the UNECE Region

Current situation: UNECE region*

• Labour force participation of older persons: • 46.5% for men (60-64 years old) • 31.5% for women (60-64 years old)

• Statutory retirement age and labour market exit age (LME): • 60 to 67 years for men / LME 62.2 years • 55 to 67 years for women / LME 61.5 years

• Older people at risk of poverty or social exclusion • < 15% of men 65-74 years old • 20% of women 65-74 years old

* See Synthesis Report Statistical Appendix for data sources and coverage

Active Ageing Index: aims & policy context

AAI development was a joint project in 2012 by: EC DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion UNECE Population Unit & its Expert Group European Centre for Social Welfare Policy and Research

in Vienna.

Active Ageing Index: aims & policy context

AAI is aimed to serve as an evidence tool to monitor active ageing outcomes at the country level to indicate the untapped potential of older people for more

active participation in economic and social life and for independent living

to promote a more active role and greater autonomy of older people in ageing societies

for mutual learning and advocacy of most appropriate policy measures

Policy context: MIPAA & Vienna Ministerial Declaration on Ageing, EY2012 & EC Social Investment Package (2013)

Active Ageing Index: aims & policy context

Premises: • Lack of comparable age-and-sex-disaggregated

information related to ageing may lead to poor basis for policies and programmes for active ageing and wellbeing of older people

• Easy to understand analytical toolsets allow to identify areas of strengths and weaknesses in a country

• Benchmarking country’s situation against peers may help to engage decision makers

• Transparency and clarity is essential while capturing multidimensional complexity of ageing outcomes

Active Ageing Index: methodological approach

Definition: "Active ageing refers to the situation where people continue to participate in the formal labour market, as well as engage in other unpaid productive activities (such as care provision to family members and volunteering), and live healthy, independent and secure lives as they age.“

Active Ageing Index: methodological approach

Active Ageing Index

Employment Participation in Society Independent, Healthy and Secure living

Employment rate 55-59

Employment rate 60-64

Employment rate 65-69

Employment rate 70-74 Political participation

Care to older adults

Care to children, grand children

Voluntary activities

Lifelong learning

Physical safety

Financial security* (three indicators)

Independent living

Access to health and dental care

Physical exercise

Capacity and Enabling Environment for active

ageing

Educational attainment

Social connectedness

Remaining life expectancy at age 55

Use of ICT b

Mental well-being

Share of healthy life expectancy at age 55

Actual experiences of active ageing Capacity to actively age

Active Ageing Index: methodological approach

Four methodical steps: 1. All indicators are expressed as positive indicators (the higher the value, the better the

active ageing outcome) 2. Each of the indicators is expressed in percentage terms, with a lower goalpost of 0 and

an upper goalpost of 100 (Note: the assumption of the upper goalpost of 100 cannot always be interpreted as the optimum)

3. For each domain using the weighted average of the indicators the domain index (DI) is calculated: Employment DI; Participation-in-society DI; Independent-healthy-and-secure-living DI and the capacity-and-enabling-environment-for-active-ageing DI

4. The overall aggregated index is calculated as the weighted average of the domain-specific indices. The final explicit weights used for the four domains are, respectively, 35, 35, 10 and 20.

AAI is based on 22 indicators. Aggregation method is similar to HDI.

Active Ageing Index: methodological approach

Weights for aggregation: As recommended by the Expert Group Consideration: implicitly different weights attached to indicators and to

domains are determined by the relative size of the indicator value and the domain-specific index value, respectively

Explicit weights: the final set of weights assigned to individual indicators and domains (an initial value of weights re-adjusted so that the values of the resulting implicit weights match with those recommended by the experts)

Implicit weights: obtained by multiplying the value of explicit weight assigned to indicator with the indicator’s value when aggregating the indicators to a domain-specific index; likewise for the general AAI

Active Ageing Index: methodological approach

27,3 27,7 28,2 29,3 30,0 30,2 30,6 30,9 31,0 31,6 32,5 33,1 33,3 33,5 34,2 34,2 34,3 34,9 35,0 35,1 36,3

38,8 38,9 39,2 39,4 40,2

44,0

0,0 20,0 40,0 60,0 80,0 100,0

Poland Slovakia Hungary

Greece Bulgaria

Latvia Slovenia Romania

Malta Lithuania

Spain Estonia

Italy Belgium Portugal

France Czech Republic

Austria Germany

Luxembourg Cyprus Finland

Netherlands United Kingdom

Ireland Denmark

Sweden

Distance to achieving the theoretical full active ageing potential

Gender gap

Active Ageing Index: results for 27 EU countries

OVERALL Employment Social participation

Independent living Capacity for active ageing

1 Sweden 2 Denmark 3 Ireland 4 UK 5 Netherlands 6 Finland 7 Cyprus 8 Luxembourg 9 Germany 10 Austria 11 Czech Rep 12 France 13 Portugal 14 Belgium 15 Italy 16 Estonia 17 Spain 18 Lithuania 19 Malta 20 Romania 21 Slovenia 22 Latvia 23 Bulgaria 24 Greece 25 Hungary 26 Slovakia 27 Poland

1 Sweden 2 Cyprus 3 UK 4 Portugal 5 Estonia 6 Denmark 7 Finland 8 Netherlands 9 Romania 10 Germany 11 Ireland 12 Latvia 13 Lithuania 14 Czech Rep 15 Austria 16 Bulgaria 17 Greece 18 Spain 19 Slovenia 20 Luxembourg 21 France 22 Italy 23 Slovakia 24 Poland 25 Belgium 26 Malta 27 Hungary

1 Ireland 2 Italy 3 Luxembourg 4 Sweden 5 France 6 Netherlands 7 Finland 8 Austria 9 Belgium 10 Denmark 11 UK 12 Czech Rep 13 Cyprus 14 Spain 15 Malta 16 Slovenia 17 Hungary 18 Lithuania 19 Germany 20 Portugal 21 Greece 22 Latvia 23 Slovakia 24 Estonia 25 Romania 26 Bulgaria 27 Poland

1 Denmark 2 Sweden 3 Netherlands 4 Finland 5 Germany 6 UK 7 Ireland 8 Luxembourg 9 France 10 Slovenia 11 Czech Rep 12 Belgium 13 Austria 14 Hungary 15 Lithuania 16 Romania 17 Malta 18 Estonia 19 Italy 20 Cyprus 21 Poland 22 Spain 23 Slovakia 24 Portugal 25 Greece 26 Bulgaria 27 Latvia

1 Sweden 2 Denmark 3 Netherlands 4 Luxembourg 5 UK 6 Ireland 7 Finland 8 Belgium 9 France 10 Austria 11 Germany 12 Spain 13 Malta 14 Czech Rep 15 Italy 16 Bulgaria 17 Cyprus 18 Portugal 19 Slovenia 20 Lithuania 21 Estonia 22 Poland 23 Greece 24 Slovakia 25 Hungary 26 Latvia 27 Romania

Ranking of EU 27 countries, on the basis of the overall AAI and the domain specific indices

Active Ageing Index: results for 27 EU countries

Correlations between the capacity for active ageing and domain-specific indices

Social participation Independent living

Active Ageing Index: next steps

Mainstream the use and applicability of the AAI for evidence-based policy-making

Contextual policy and AAI trends analysis AAI trends through the life-course lens starting AAI-II: Extending country coverage Calculating AAI for retrospective years (at least 2000, 2005)

Active Ageing Index: next steps

on the footsteps of AAI:

• Global AgeWatch Index (The HelpAge International & UNFPA)

• Age-friendly cities index

(WHO)

www.unece.org/pau/welcome.html

http://www.unece.org/population-unit/areas-of-work/ageing/ageing/pauactive-ageing-index.html