Why is it in the news?

• The Asian Development Bank (ADB) released the Asian Development Policy Report focusing on aging well in Asia.
• It has identified four key dimensions of older persons’ well-being: health, productive work, economic security, and social engagement.

More about the news

• Developing Asia is experiencing rapid aging, with the proportion of older people (aged 60 and above) in the regional population expected to nearly double from 13.5% in 2022 to 25.2% (1.2 billion) by 2050.
• In India, the report highlights challenges such as low health insurance coverage among older people (21%) and reliance on private income and assets (80%-90%) for retirement, rather than public pensions or social assistance.

Challenges to healthy aging:

• lifestyle diseases, loneliness, limited access to essential services like healthcare, and economic insecurity, with 40% of older people in Asia lacking access to any form of pension and up to 94% of workers aged 65+ employed in the informal sector.

Recommendations:

• Achieving universal health coverage, government-led health insurance reforms, strengthening primary healthcare, labour protection coverage for informal workers, extended and flexible retirement age, and lifelong learning.
• Broader social pension coverage, utilization of digital technology such as India’s Atal Pension Yojana, and financial literacy are also recommended, along with transitioning to market-based long-term care systems, community-based social activities like Japan’s Ibasho project, and digital skills training.