1.3.2022
EN
Official Journal of the European Union
C 99/129 Wednesday 7 July 2021
AJ. whereas generational renewal is one of the post-2020 specific objectives of the common agricultural policy (CAP); whereas knowledge transfer and intergenerational learning are crucial to increasing cooperation and solidarity between generations, thus bridging the generation gap;
Health and care
AK. whereas due account should always be taken of the ethical risks arising from the use of technology in health;
AL. whereas the WHO defines healthy ageing as the process of developing and maintaining the functional ability that enables well-being in older age; whereas there is a correlation between perceived health and income; whereas in 2017 less than one third (32,4 %) of older people in the first income quintile (20 % of the population with the lowest incomes) perceived their health as good or very good, compared to 54,7 % of older people belonging to the 20 % of the population with the highest incomes (31); whereas the results of the European Health Interview Survey show that the majority of older people were found to have chronic illnesses or complaints, and only one in nine declared the absence of such problems, and whereas many disabilities emerge or become more pronounced at an older age; whereas almost half of older people in the EU (aged 65 and over) have reported difficulties with at least one personal activity or domestic activity (32); whereas about a quarter of the EU population experienced long-standing limitations due to health problems in 2018 (33); whereas approximately 15 % of adults aged 60 and over have a mental disorder;
AM. whereas in most developed countries, older people are considered to be those aged 65 and over; whereas the 65+ age group is very heterogeneous, with significant differences in health, lifestyle, status, and living and social conditions; whereas generalisations should therefore be avoided; whereas focusing on the age of 65 as the upper age limit for data collection often does not correspond to the reality of older people’s economic and social activities, making for incomplete and inaccurate data; whereas older people are absent from many statistics and data-gathering exercises, as it is common not to collect statistics for people over 65; whereas this is no longer adequate in the light of the growing share of the population living to an older age;
AN. whereas although the educational gender gap is favourable to women in most European countries, women nonetheless pay a maternity labour penalty while men have paternity labour bonuses on activity rates and wages; whereas showing the difficulties women face in making maternity compatible with the development of a professional career, diminishing the available options both for maternity and the development of a professional career, is important; whereas juggling a career and maternity usually ends up with women postponing maternity age, decreasing the potential number of children, or with women remaining childless; whereas all of these factors decrease fertility rates below the replacement rate with the subsequent ageing of the population;
AO. whereas the number of people who are dependent on the assistance of others or have health and long-term care needs increases with age; whereas the share of individuals in need of such services is higher in those aged 80 or over; whereas dependence is exacerbated by ageing, but is also affected by other elements, such as socio-economic and environmental factors as well as educational attainment, interpersonal relations and personal well-being; whereas the needs for care and support are diverse and the appropriate means to ensure autonomy and independence differ; whereas the vast majority of care for older dependent people is being provided by informal, usually unpaid female carers aged 60 or over themselves;
(31) (32) (33)
Eurostat, Ageing Europe: Looking at the lives of older people in the EU, 2019, p. 53.
Eurostat, ‘Disability statistics — elderly needs for help or assistance’, data extracted in June 2019.
Eurostat, ‘Functional and activity limitations statistics’, data extracted in December 2020.