Jobless and travel-hungry, the over-55s are a vital “support network” for younger people, but they fear losing quality of life with the continuous rise in prices.
More than half of senior households in Portugal (55.3%) have two sources of monthly income – and in 13.4% of cases even more than that – and this population made up of people over 55 is “a support network for those closest to them”.
According to the Senior Consumer Barometer in Portugal, 53% of Portuguese seniors economically help a member of their family or close circle. Mainly the children (42%), while the remaining help is provided to other family members or friends. The results of this survey show that 74% of this help is monthly and that one in three beneficiaries actually depends on it to survive.
The same study also reveals that half of the senior consumers save every month and that the savings rate increases slightly with age: 50.3% of people over 70 manage to save. The vast majority (77.7%) of respondents save 30% of their income.
It should be noted that despite this support provided to family members by the senior population, they show equally interesting results when it comes to their daily lives:
– More than 7 out of 10 seniors own their own homes;
– 74.6% of the population, their home is not adapted for dependents;
– Only 22.9% of the elderly would not accept living in a Senior Residence.
This study, conducted for the first time in Portugal through the Ageingnomics Research Center, offers a portrait of a segment that corresponds to nearly 40% of the Portuguese population: there are more than 3.8 million people over the age of 55.
“Population aging, the result of the continuous increase in longevity and the accelerated reduction in birth rates, has become a global phenomenon,” says Antonio Huertas, president of the Mapfre Foundation. According to him, “the imbalances that this demographic phenomenon can generate in pension, health, and long-term care systems, as well as in the availability of labor resources, have favored the generalization of a negative view about what is one of humanity’s great achievements: the increase in life expectancy.”
Developed in August 2022, the study was based on 1100 interviews with people aged 55 or older living in Portugal, with the help of Google in defining the target public.
Source: https://marketeer.sapo.pt/fundacao-mapfre-revela-que-quase-metade-dos-seniores-em-portugal-ajuda-os-filhos/
