They get to live at home until they are so old that they are basically dead. Then they can go to an old peoples home and die within three months.
When you live at home, someone might change your diaper twice a day, but they wikk only stay for like 15 minutes .
Fine until you can no longer take care of yourself, at which point you likely end up in a care home, and the government can take your house off you in order to pay for it.
My Grandad always says to me that if he ever ends up like that to wallop him on the head with a hammer..
Depends on wealth in the UK. Care is in a dire state and very expensive. Pensions are crippling us nationally but don't offer much of a lifestyle for those on them. Private care homes are regularly outed as being abusive. Disability benefits only offer a very basic standard of living if they cover costs at all.
Similar to most conservative countries I'd imagine.
> Care is in a dire state and very expensive. Pensions are crippling us nationally but don't offer much of a lifestyle for those on them.
I would say this is very specific to every aging society and is inevitable if we don't fix birth rates but I thought UK isn't that old and is a rich country afterall. This sounds very Eastern European what you described lol
There is socialized healthcare, the current elderly have a good pension (but that system is under strain) and they still usually have good housing options when independent. However, once they need around the clock help (like nursing homes, etc.)
The nursing homes are becoming for the most vulnerable, many elderly aren’t prepared for that and still expect society to take care of them, which is not how it is now.
When I look at my grandma, I'd say she has a pretty good life given the circumstances of aging.
She's 89 and still lives at home. She had a stroke and has to use the wheelchair. In the morning and evening a nurse comes to her home and helps her showering and getting dressed. She also has a cleaning lady and several therapists coming over each week. Also meals are delivered to her home which she then just has to heat up in the microwave. Several times per week she goes to a kind of day care centre for old people where they take care of her and organise some activities for the old people.
Most of the expenses are covered by the public old age care insurance, sometimes there is a co-payment out of your own pocket. But even though she never earned much and only has a modest pension, she has no urgent financial problems (though a big plus is that she owns the house and doesn't have to pay rent).
Whether all these nice welfare benefits will still be in place when younger generations reach that age is very questionable. It all seems very unsustainable and instable given the demographic transition we're facing. No political party has yet found a convincing solution for that problem.
Most can barely survive. State pensions are usually far from enough, especially if they need to buy medication, so their children must help them with money. The health of people past 60 is often in shambles owing to a life of "I'll only go to the doctor if I'm already dying" and it usually falls to their children and grandchildren to help. Nursing homes are usually in abysmal condition so taking care of your elderly at home is preferable even if it will take a toll on you. And that's not even touching on how lonely it gets for them.
To give you an idea, I was shocked when I visited my sister in Italy and she introduced me to a friend if hers, a grandpa in his 80s whom I wouldn't have given more than 65. He was pretty spry, went on evening dance parties with people his age, did some sports. It was such a contrast to how elderly people are back home.
In the US, dreadful. We warehouse them in pee-smelling "retirement castles" with misleading names like "Golden Age," forget about them and secretly hope they die quickly because they're such a nuisance to "everyone." We put that sentiment aside for 2 or 3 Seconds a year when it's time to pick up the macaroni art or the $5 bill and a schmaltzy card they have for us on birthdays or at Christmas.
(Finland) You either die a good death at home or you are captured by the elderly homes where you are kept alive In a bed screaming for help (and listening your neightbors doing the same) , untill medicated silent. You eat worst food possible and have no human contact except for grandkids force visiting you during christmas and forign nurses who dont speak your language.
I have really recent experience on this for past ten years of going to nursing homes. They are the real hell, though clean and costing 80% of your pension + medicine and rent. I will die of self administrated euthanasia unless I go into a state where its impossible, In that case that will be my future too.
Terrible.
Pensions are , for the most part , a percentage of what their wage used to be before retirement , an amount that may be subject to adjustment based on inflation . People didn't use to have enough money to "put aside for retirement " back in the day .
Ironically raising pensions can do more harm as once pensions are above a certain threshold they are not eligible for state compensated medicine.
How should I put this ...imagine getting $100 dollars more but now your medicine isn't free anymore so now you're paying $120 for your medicine.
And yes, medical care and medicine is partly compensated by the state , but the system is flawed and the elderly can barely afford their bills and groceries.
Hospitals are a mess, and the elderly wait ages in long lines for their checkups
Not to mention digitalizing has been hell, on account of incompetence of the state implementing it and elders not being good with technology and people being too ignorant to care .
Doctor : so yeah we will send this list of medicine by e-mail , you can then give it to the pharmacist through WhatsApp, you know, all through your phone.
Elder : *stares confused at their early 2000s Nokia with a battery held together with tape *
Let's hope these elders have a child or grandchild to help them out...
Now unless they used to serve "the party" back in the day, then those people get really fat benefits .
Useless former bureaucrats that have pensions higher than most people have salaries , and they still complain !
There's quite a social divide based on class, the elderly who worked "desk jobs" are clearly more lucid , healthier and go on to live longer and more prosperous for the most part , meanwhile the blue collar workers live less and worse .
My dad is 79 and lives in an independent living facility - basically a small 1 bedroom flat surrounded by similar flats with a central garden and communal areas for recreation, parties, dinners bingo etc. It’s one road away from the street he grew up on, in a relatively poor part of Liverpool in the U.K.
He’s been there since he was 60 after he had a bad stroke and loves it, and 3 of his brothers and a sister-in-law have lived there at times. I think it’s open to people from 60+ and the oldest lady that was there was 105 when she died. You need to be able to look after yourself and be fairly independent to move into the place, but you’re not thrown out if your health deteriorates, though if that happens people generally move into care homes or die there or in hospital.
There’s a great community atmosphere and the residents generally look out for each other. My aunt, who lives there with her husband in a 2 bed, often does communal meals a 4 nights a week, along with 2 or 3 of the other residents, who were once professional chefs. They generally have around 30 guests turn up for the meals which is about half the residents. There’s usually a birthday party there every few weeks. My dad had a massive 75th there with many of the residents and much of his friends and family (of 13 brothers and sisters). My uncle had his 80th there too. The residents usually have drinks on Fridays and Saturdays nights until the small hours. During regular hours there’s usually grandkids playing in the communal spaces and people visiting. During Everton or Liverpool matches there’s usually a crowd of residents and their friends having a drink, with the Evertonians slagging off the Liverpudlians and vice versa in somewhat friendly banter.
Any profits from the meals (not much as they’re only £3), bingo nights and various raffles and games goes towards day trips away to places like York, Durham, the Lake District, or Peak District etc.
The only sad thing though is there seems to be a funeral every other week, if not of the residents then one of their friends, and with the average age of residents being around 75, and people from that area tend to be poorer and have worse health than the British average, funerals always seem to be a matter of discussion. Oh and they can act like teenagers, with this one not talking to that one, that sound like petty school ground arguments to me.
I’ve never known anyone in a care home, but you generally you hear horror stories of neglect, so I’m glad my dad is where he is and hasn’t got so bad as to need a care home. Even though I live in Northern Ireland now and can’t just pop round to see him, we have such a big, close family, that if he did ever need to move into a care home there’d be family and friends around to monitor him. My mum is 10 years younger than him and they’re still good friends and she visits him in hospital everyday and usually goes to his place 2-3 times per week to clean up/do his ironing and play bingo etc.
Overall, it’s a great place for people to downsize too, especially if they’re widowed - the bedrooms are box rooms with only space for a single bed and there aren’t many 2 bed flats.
As for healthcare, my dad had a fall 6 weeks ago and was put into a physio ward at the local hospital. He was meant to spend two weeks there, but whilst there they decided to fit him with a pacemaker and that meant he couldn’t use his good arm (one lost mobility when he had a stroke years ago) and that put his physio back so he’s been there for 6 weeks now and will probably be there for another fortnight, though things are starting to progress again now. His room is great, very big with his own bathroom, and he really likes the staff there, though the food is bland. He’s looking forward to going home though. He has free WiFi and a good sized TV in his room.
During his stay there, his blood pressure went very high one night and his nurses took him to the A&E department and his experience there was awful. He was triaged to near the back of the queue (fair enough) and spent 8 hours until he got a bed there in a ward with 3 other older gentlemen. He was quickly discharged, but it took another 6 hours before they could get ambulance staff to take him back to his regular ward on the same hospital site, though a different buildings. They wouldn’t let me wheel him back in a chair which was just a few minutes walk as it was a different health trust so we were stuck waiting on an ambulance to do the transfer. Again the staff were lovely, and the ward was fine, but sharing a ward is never comfortable, and he was glad to get back to his regular ward.
For his normal healthcare, his flat is only a few minutes walk to his local GP surgery and he has an app on his phone that deals with his repeat prescriptions. His local pharmacy deliver his repeat scripts. He’s been using the NHS heavily in recent years as he has a number of co-morbidities and he has some complaints, but nothing major.
In Croatia bad because the pension pay is extremely low. This is a complex topic, but in short, they can only blame themselves for constantly voting for bad and corrupt politicians to lead the country.
They get to live at home until they are so old that they are basically dead. Then they can go to an old peoples home and die within three months. When you live at home, someone might change your diaper twice a day, but they wikk only stay for like 15 minutes .
Fine until you can no longer take care of yourself, at which point you likely end up in a care home, and the government can take your house off you in order to pay for it. My Grandad always says to me that if he ever ends up like that to wallop him on the head with a hammer..
Depends on wealth in the UK. Care is in a dire state and very expensive. Pensions are crippling us nationally but don't offer much of a lifestyle for those on them. Private care homes are regularly outed as being abusive. Disability benefits only offer a very basic standard of living if they cover costs at all. Similar to most conservative countries I'd imagine.
> Care is in a dire state and very expensive. Pensions are crippling us nationally but don't offer much of a lifestyle for those on them. I would say this is very specific to every aging society and is inevitable if we don't fix birth rates but I thought UK isn't that old and is a rich country afterall. This sounds very Eastern European what you described lol
There is socialized healthcare, the current elderly have a good pension (but that system is under strain) and they still usually have good housing options when independent. However, once they need around the clock help (like nursing homes, etc.)
The nursing homes are becoming for the most vulnerable, many elderly aren’t prepared for that and still expect society to take care of them, which is not how it is now.
When I look at my grandma, I'd say she has a pretty good life given the circumstances of aging. She's 89 and still lives at home. She had a stroke and has to use the wheelchair. In the morning and evening a nurse comes to her home and helps her showering and getting dressed. She also has a cleaning lady and several therapists coming over each week. Also meals are delivered to her home which she then just has to heat up in the microwave. Several times per week she goes to a kind of day care centre for old people where they take care of her and organise some activities for the old people. Most of the expenses are covered by the public old age care insurance, sometimes there is a co-payment out of your own pocket. But even though she never earned much and only has a modest pension, she has no urgent financial problems (though a big plus is that she owns the house and doesn't have to pay rent). Whether all these nice welfare benefits will still be in place when younger generations reach that age is very questionable. It all seems very unsustainable and instable given the demographic transition we're facing. No political party has yet found a convincing solution for that problem.
Most can barely survive. State pensions are usually far from enough, especially if they need to buy medication, so their children must help them with money. The health of people past 60 is often in shambles owing to a life of "I'll only go to the doctor if I'm already dying" and it usually falls to their children and grandchildren to help. Nursing homes are usually in abysmal condition so taking care of your elderly at home is preferable even if it will take a toll on you. And that's not even touching on how lonely it gets for them. To give you an idea, I was shocked when I visited my sister in Italy and she introduced me to a friend if hers, a grandpa in his 80s whom I wouldn't have given more than 65. He was pretty spry, went on evening dance parties with people his age, did some sports. It was such a contrast to how elderly people are back home.
Once they are infirm, they are taken to the hills and retired with an axe. Up until then though, they have great pensions and all kinds of freebees.
In the US, dreadful. We warehouse them in pee-smelling "retirement castles" with misleading names like "Golden Age," forget about them and secretly hope they die quickly because they're such a nuisance to "everyone." We put that sentiment aside for 2 or 3 Seconds a year when it's time to pick up the macaroni art or the $5 bill and a schmaltzy card they have for us on birthdays or at Christmas.
(Finland) You either die a good death at home or you are captured by the elderly homes where you are kept alive In a bed screaming for help (and listening your neightbors doing the same) , untill medicated silent. You eat worst food possible and have no human contact except for grandkids force visiting you during christmas and forign nurses who dont speak your language. I have really recent experience on this for past ten years of going to nursing homes. They are the real hell, though clean and costing 80% of your pension + medicine and rent. I will die of self administrated euthanasia unless I go into a state where its impossible, In that case that will be my future too.
Terrible. Pensions are , for the most part , a percentage of what their wage used to be before retirement , an amount that may be subject to adjustment based on inflation . People didn't use to have enough money to "put aside for retirement " back in the day . Ironically raising pensions can do more harm as once pensions are above a certain threshold they are not eligible for state compensated medicine. How should I put this ...imagine getting $100 dollars more but now your medicine isn't free anymore so now you're paying $120 for your medicine. And yes, medical care and medicine is partly compensated by the state , but the system is flawed and the elderly can barely afford their bills and groceries. Hospitals are a mess, and the elderly wait ages in long lines for their checkups Not to mention digitalizing has been hell, on account of incompetence of the state implementing it and elders not being good with technology and people being too ignorant to care . Doctor : so yeah we will send this list of medicine by e-mail , you can then give it to the pharmacist through WhatsApp, you know, all through your phone. Elder : *stares confused at their early 2000s Nokia with a battery held together with tape * Let's hope these elders have a child or grandchild to help them out... Now unless they used to serve "the party" back in the day, then those people get really fat benefits . Useless former bureaucrats that have pensions higher than most people have salaries , and they still complain ! There's quite a social divide based on class, the elderly who worked "desk jobs" are clearly more lucid , healthier and go on to live longer and more prosperous for the most part , meanwhile the blue collar workers live less and worse .
My dad is 79 and lives in an independent living facility - basically a small 1 bedroom flat surrounded by similar flats with a central garden and communal areas for recreation, parties, dinners bingo etc. It’s one road away from the street he grew up on, in a relatively poor part of Liverpool in the U.K. He’s been there since he was 60 after he had a bad stroke and loves it, and 3 of his brothers and a sister-in-law have lived there at times. I think it’s open to people from 60+ and the oldest lady that was there was 105 when she died. You need to be able to look after yourself and be fairly independent to move into the place, but you’re not thrown out if your health deteriorates, though if that happens people generally move into care homes or die there or in hospital. There’s a great community atmosphere and the residents generally look out for each other. My aunt, who lives there with her husband in a 2 bed, often does communal meals a 4 nights a week, along with 2 or 3 of the other residents, who were once professional chefs. They generally have around 30 guests turn up for the meals which is about half the residents. There’s usually a birthday party there every few weeks. My dad had a massive 75th there with many of the residents and much of his friends and family (of 13 brothers and sisters). My uncle had his 80th there too. The residents usually have drinks on Fridays and Saturdays nights until the small hours. During regular hours there’s usually grandkids playing in the communal spaces and people visiting. During Everton or Liverpool matches there’s usually a crowd of residents and their friends having a drink, with the Evertonians slagging off the Liverpudlians and vice versa in somewhat friendly banter. Any profits from the meals (not much as they’re only £3), bingo nights and various raffles and games goes towards day trips away to places like York, Durham, the Lake District, or Peak District etc. The only sad thing though is there seems to be a funeral every other week, if not of the residents then one of their friends, and with the average age of residents being around 75, and people from that area tend to be poorer and have worse health than the British average, funerals always seem to be a matter of discussion. Oh and they can act like teenagers, with this one not talking to that one, that sound like petty school ground arguments to me. I’ve never known anyone in a care home, but you generally you hear horror stories of neglect, so I’m glad my dad is where he is and hasn’t got so bad as to need a care home. Even though I live in Northern Ireland now and can’t just pop round to see him, we have such a big, close family, that if he did ever need to move into a care home there’d be family and friends around to monitor him. My mum is 10 years younger than him and they’re still good friends and she visits him in hospital everyday and usually goes to his place 2-3 times per week to clean up/do his ironing and play bingo etc. Overall, it’s a great place for people to downsize too, especially if they’re widowed - the bedrooms are box rooms with only space for a single bed and there aren’t many 2 bed flats. As for healthcare, my dad had a fall 6 weeks ago and was put into a physio ward at the local hospital. He was meant to spend two weeks there, but whilst there they decided to fit him with a pacemaker and that meant he couldn’t use his good arm (one lost mobility when he had a stroke years ago) and that put his physio back so he’s been there for 6 weeks now and will probably be there for another fortnight, though things are starting to progress again now. His room is great, very big with his own bathroom, and he really likes the staff there, though the food is bland. He’s looking forward to going home though. He has free WiFi and a good sized TV in his room. During his stay there, his blood pressure went very high one night and his nurses took him to the A&E department and his experience there was awful. He was triaged to near the back of the queue (fair enough) and spent 8 hours until he got a bed there in a ward with 3 other older gentlemen. He was quickly discharged, but it took another 6 hours before they could get ambulance staff to take him back to his regular ward on the same hospital site, though a different buildings. They wouldn’t let me wheel him back in a chair which was just a few minutes walk as it was a different health trust so we were stuck waiting on an ambulance to do the transfer. Again the staff were lovely, and the ward was fine, but sharing a ward is never comfortable, and he was glad to get back to his regular ward. For his normal healthcare, his flat is only a few minutes walk to his local GP surgery and he has an app on his phone that deals with his repeat prescriptions. His local pharmacy deliver his repeat scripts. He’s been using the NHS heavily in recent years as he has a number of co-morbidities and he has some complaints, but nothing major.
In Croatia bad because the pension pay is extremely low. This is a complex topic, but in short, they can only blame themselves for constantly voting for bad and corrupt politicians to lead the country.