Indian Journal of Gerontology

2018, Vol. 32, No. 4, pp. 412–426

ISSN: 0971–4189, UGC No. 20786

Integrating Elderly into Community: A

Socio-Economic Model

Anoop C Choolayil and Laxmi Puthran

Department of Social Work,
Central University of Kerala. Kasargod, Kerala–671531

ABSTRACT
The thrust area of this study was the possibility of integrating
skilled elderly population into the economic workforce in their
own terms. The study tried to focus upon skilled elderly who could
contribute to the community and thus realize their potential while
being economically active. The data was collected via secondary
sources in the first place from studies that have dealt with the
questions pertaining to the recent past. The findings show that
economic participation of elderly in developing nations is far
higher than that of the developed nations and India tops the list but
the trend is gradually declining in India. The average participation
of urban elderly in economic activities has fallen considerably
during the period from 1983 to 2010. Further, data show that
higher the rate of literacy, quality of life and social security the
economic participation of elderly lowers. It is assumed that elderly
are unable to seek jobs on their own terms or there is an atmosphere
where economic participation by elderly is not favourable owing to
multiple factors that are social in nature. It is argued that social
level interventions are required along with economic level inter-
ventions to facilitate meaningful economic participation of elderly.
To address this special need an attempt was made to reconcile the
Integrating Elderly into Community: A Socio-Economic Model 413

ideas of developmental psychology, motivation theory and valued

roles into the realm of economic participation.
Keywords: Economic roles of elderly, Integrating elderly into
workforce, Economic participation for healthy ageing, Population
ageing and economy, Dignifying economic contributions of elderly,
Promoting work-culture among elderly

The greatest mystery that has always baffled human minds

throughout the history of human civilization is nothing but life. The
key to life is considered to be the ultimate quest of human species. This
quest has naturally been exploring the anti thesis of life as well viz.
death. The deeper the themes of life and death were fathomed myriad
were the corollaries that arouse. Ageing was one such corollary that
has always been portrayed as a theme with close bindings to the
antithesis of life. Ageing as a phenomenon has almost always been
portrayed in negative light till the recent past. Aristotle from Greek
philosophy in his work Rhetoric opined that elderly under-do every-
thing and they tend to be distrustful and cynical in life (Aristotle,
trans. 1991). However, this idea of old age as an age of decline was not
arbitrary as there were others like Cicero who drew similarities
between elderly and the captain of a ship in his work titled On Old
Age. While others do a lot of energetic work in the ship the captain’s
job may not seem that pompous but what he does is far more
important. Hence he opines that it is not physical dexterity that
counts but reflection, force of character and judgement; characters that
are intertwined to old age. (Cicero, trans. 1887). Understanding the
nature and possibilities of old age has thus always been a matter of
discourse from times immemorial.
The theme of old age has been gaining importance in the past few
decades due to some unprecedented events; population ageing being
one of the major reasons for this reappraisal of old age. “Aging of
population (also known as demographic aging, and population aging)
is a summary term for shifts in the age distribution (i.e., age
structure) of a population towards older age.” (The Encyclopedia of
Population, 2003). One out of every eight individuals in the world is
above 60 years old. (UNFPA, 2018). Since the modern world is
practicing birth control measures to control population and at the
same time life span of people are on a rise owing to medical progresses
414 Indian Journal of Gerontology

the trend of population ageing will be on a rise in the years to come. In

India 8.6 per cent of the population belong to age group above 60
(Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation Government
of India, 2016) which is expected to rise to 12.45 of the population by
2026 (Subaiya and Bansod, 2011).
Old age is often portrayed as a negative phase of life as it is
associated with declining economic productivity, physical weakening
and ultimately death. One of the major reasons for a negative outlook
towards old age is the misconception that elderly people can’t fit into
economic roles in the community i.e. they are not active economic
contributors. However, the idea of “successful ageing” as propagated
by Rowe and Khan (1997) stands in stark contradiction to the idea of
old age being a period of economic unproductivity. The concept places
“active engagement with life” as one among the three components of
successful ageing and productive activity, especially economically
productive activity, is considered as a key factor in this regard.
However, in a world were ageism still pertains, the elderly often end
up sacrificing their aspirations; once retired they are forced to
withdraw themselves from the workforce often due to the stereo-
typing associated with ageing as the end of productivity. The thrust
area of this study was the possibility of integrating skilled elderly
population into the economic workforce in their own terms i.e. the
highlight was upon the subjective aspects that the skilled elderly
considered important to engage themselves in the economic force and
objective means to help them achieve the realization of economic
roles. The study tried to focus upon skilled elderly who could reflect
upon the possibilities of contributing to the community and thus
realize their potential while being economically active so that the
situation that might emerge in India in a decade viz. skilled and zealous
but economically unproductive elderly population could be antici-
pated and thus an effective action plan could be drawn through
assumptions from current researches.

Methods and Materials

This study is exploratory in nature in so far as it attempts a
historical analysis of how elderly population has been integrating
themselves into economic roles of the society; through an analysis of
Integrating Elderly into Community: A Socio-Economic Model 415

available secondary data and thereby trace the trend of participation of

the elderly in the economic force as a whole. The aim is to assess how
effective the economic participation of elderly in the social context is
and how the perception of economic participation could pave way to a
dignified status of the elderly in the society as a whole so that it leads to
a triple benefit of realization of the socio-economic potential of the
elderly, elevation of the social status of the elderly and a boost to the
economy in general. This appraisal in turn could be beneficial in so far
as population ageing is concerned too as the induction of the elderly
population into the workforce successfully while contributing to their
healthy ageing could be beneficial to the economy, the community as
well as the individual.
For this purpose, the data regarding participation of the elderly
enumerated in the sources like research papers, statistical data
compiled by organisations and other valid sources in the past few
decades have been reviewed. The keywords used in obtaining this
compilation included ‘elderly in workforce’ ‘economic roles of
elderly’, ‘integrating elderly into workforce’, ‘economic contribution
of elderly’ ‘economic participation for healthy ageing’, ‘population
ageing and economy’, ‘social integration through economic roles’,
‘economic participation as a social role’, ‘dignifying economic contri-
butions by elderly’, ‘promoting work-culture among elderly’,
‘impediments to economic participation of elderly’, ‘developmental
tasks of economic nature’ etc. From the articles and resources thus
obtained relevant data was further sieved as per the time period of the
study and its nature of integrating both economical and social roles.
Further theoretical aspects were drawn from developmental
psychology and gerontology.
The data thus compiled is further assessed to identify the nature
of the integration of elderly into economic roles. Once the data is
analysed, the findings are further assessed to amalgamate the idea of
economic participation with social and individual concerns of the
person in the realization of such a participation. For this purpose
concepts from developmental psychology, gerontology and life span
approach theories are drawn with the purpose of of transcending the
416 Indian Journal of Gerontology

idea of economic participation of the elderly into the level of valued

social role from a theoretical perspective.

Results and Discussion

Elderly in the Workforce: Global Scenario

In the global scenario participation of elderly in the economic
force shows flickering trends. India tops the list when it comes to
active economic participation of elderly men. 74.2 per cent of elderly
men in India in the age group of 60–64 participate in contribution to
the economy and the per cent is 58.5 and 34.4 respectively when it
comes to the age group of 65–69 and 70+. (ILO, LABORSTA, 2017).
This rate is considerably high compared to many developed nations
and even higher than most developing nations. (Table 1). However,
the participation rates of elderly in the economic force has steadily
been increasing in the past decade in the advanced economies. The rate
of participation of elderly has increased by 9 and 4 percentage respec-
tively in the age group of 55–64 and 65+ during 2006–2016 and
women participation has considerably contributed towards this
growth. (Brown and Guttmann, 2016). The situation of elderly partici-
pation in the economic workforce of India on the other hand is not
promising in the past decade.
Table 1
Elderly Men in Workforce: Global Scenario

Nation India Brazil US

Age Group 60–64 65–69 70+ 60–64 65–69 70+ 60–64 65–69 70+
Participation Rate (men) 74.2 58.5 34.4 63.8 47 25.5 60 36.5 14.7

Source: ILO, LABORSTA, 2010.

Economic Participation of Elderly in India

The higher rate of elderly participation in economic participation
of India could not absolutely be counted as a positive sign as this could
be the outcome of poverty, lack of social security measures and even
the nature of work the elderly are engaged in might be different;
particularly in rural areas. (Rajan, 2010). It is evident from the data of
population census 2011 that participation of elderly in economic
Integrating Elderly into Community: A Socio-Economic Model 417

activity varies according to area and gender. 66 per cent of elderly men
and 28 per cent of elderly women in rural area participate in economic
activity in the capacity of main or marginal worker whereas only 46
per cent and 11 per cent of elderly men and women respectively partic-
ipate in urban areas (Ministry of Statistics and Programme
Implementation Government of India, 2016) (Table 2).
Table 2
Place of Residence, Sex and Participation in Economic Activities

Place of Sex Main Marginal Main + Marginal Non

Residence Worker Worker Workers Worker
Rural Male 53 13.5 66.4 33.6
Female 16.3 12.1 28.4 71.6
Urban Male 41 5.1 46.1 53.9
Female 8.3 3.0 11.3 88.7

Source: Office of the registrar General, India.

It is evident that the rate of participation of elderly in economic

activities stands tall in rural areas. However, the stark reality is that the
rural elderly are unable to reap the economic benefits that their urban
counterparts do. Though it is only a minority of urban elderly that are
economically active compared to rural elderly 38 per cent of them earn
a better income of Rs 10,000–25,000 compared to 23 per cent among
rural elderly. The income brackets are lower for rural elderly.
Furthermore the rate of literacy could also have some form of
influence on the rate of participation as the CSO data based on 2011
census shows that literacy rate among elderly in the urban area is 66
per cent which is higher compared to 34 per cent in that of rural area.
(Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation Government
of India, 2016). Further it is found that the rate of unemployment is
higher among literate and educated elderly than those among the illit-
erate possibly because the latter engage in economic activities that
involve lesser skills associated with education.
The lack of availability of work that suits the nature of education
and skill of the educated elderly might thus be a factor leading to lower
rate of economic participation in urban areas. The average
418 Indian Journal of Gerontology

participation of urban elderly in economic activities has fallen consid-

erably during the period from 1983 to 2010 (Employment and
Unemployment Surveys of NSSO of India, 1983 and 2010–2011)
further strengthening the idea of slow declining of elderly partici-
pation in economic participation with the improvements in life
situation. (Table 4). This trend could also be seen in developed nations
in relation to job satisfaction; as people with low satisfaction levels at
work tend not to work during old age and those with a higher rate of
job satisfaction tends to work even after regular retirement age (Von
Bonsdorff, 2009) (Aristovnik, A. and Jaklic, K., 2013). This trend
could be interpreted along the lines of Maslow’s ‘hierarchy of needs’
theory of human motivation. (Maslow, 1943). Elderly are not too
much obsessed with physiological and safety needs if they enjoy a
good quality of life, they rather tend to seek belonging, esteem and self
actualization opportunities in life. The case could be the same when
they consider participating in economic force. What could motivate
them in such a participation can’t be economic remuneration alone
but things that transcend mere economic gains in the first place; it
could more be social and personal factors that contribute to the
positivity of individual psyche. Hence it could be assumed that better
the life situations of the elderly, they are to engage in economic activ-
ities that suits their skill and provides them satisfaction as an
individual; not just monetary benefits. Thus old age economic partici-
pation could be associated more with better work environment, job
satisfaction and other social and personal factors which favour the
particular age of the individual.
Table 3
Variation across Years in Economic Participation of Urban Elderly

Year Age
1983 60+ 60-64 65-69 70-74 75+
Participation (in per cent) 31.26 41.53 32.71 21.96 14.02
Year Age
2011-12 60+ 60-64 65-69 70-74 75+
Participation (in per cent) 21.8 29.9 122.54 17.29 5.95

Source: Employment and Unemployment Surveys of NSSO of India, 1983 and 2010–2011
Integrating Elderly into Community: A Socio-Economic Model 419

It could hence be inferred that the rate of economic participation

among the elderly in India fluctuates under the influence of variables
like gender, level of education, area of residence, level of income etc.
There is an inverse relationship in general between education,
economic security and better living conditions and non participation
in economic activities.

Kerala: A Case Study as the Pre Cursor of Future India

The state of Kerala is one of the most advanced states in India. It
has HDI indices at par with many developed nations and the elderly in
Kerala enjoy better standard of living than mos of the other states in
India. Kerala has the maximum number of elderly population in India
viz. 12.6 per cent. It also enjoys the highest life expectancy, i.e. 71.8
years, in India. (Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation
Government of India, 2016). The normal age for retirement in Kerala
ranges from 55–65 years. Pension payments from the state’s own
revenue was as high as 28.5 per cent in Kerala – the highest revenue
expenditure for the same in India – during 2004–05. (Rajan, 2010). It
hence could be assumed that Kerala could be a miniature of what India
could look like in the future regarding standard of living and human
development indices. However one of the alarming trends shown by
the elderly community of Kerala is in fact regarding active economic
participation. The old age dependency ratio among the elderly of
Kerala is as high as 19.6 per cent – the highest in India. (Ministry of
Statistics and Programme Implementation Government of India,
2016). It could be argued that this could be due to the high life expec-
tancy in Kerala and associated health issues of advanced old age (70+).
But the data from the National Sample Survey – 68th round proves it
otherwise. The Worker Population Ratio (WPR) for both the age
group 60–64 and 65+ are much lower for Kerala when compared to
the national average. The WPR for Kerala is only 584 and 384 per
thousand persons for the age group 60–64 and 65+ respectively
compared to the national average of 810 and 523 respectively. (NSSO
68th Round, 2011–2012).
This trend could be identified as a precursor of what could
happen to India in the decades to come if India progresses in a steady
rate in Human Development Indices. Once the quality of life and
420 Indian Journal of Gerontology

standard of living of the elderly improve and they attain social security
they tend not to carry out the economic roles. This could be a major
blow to the economy of the nation and active ageing of the individual
himself/herself; as well as a poor strategy of integrating the elderly
into economic roles. Setting apart ill health as a reason for this reluc-
tance to participate in economic activities, the possible reasons could
be poor job satisfaction, absence of jobs that suit the skill, lack of social
acceptance, ageism, inability to adjust with the schedule and poor
availability of job opportunities from a subjective point of view (Von
Bonsdorff, 2009; (Aristovnik A. and Ksenja J., 2013) and competition
from youngsters, unfeasible work schedule and dearth of opportu-
nities from an economic point of view. The trends that favour the
economic participation of elderly in economic roles from a social
perspective are not encouraging in the current scenario. This could not
be tackled from a mere economic perspective; but requires social
re-engineering as well.

Towards a Socio-Economic Model of Integrating Elderly into

Community
The analysis of the empirical data suggests some interconnections
between the variables identified and the participation of elderly in the
economic activities. It is evident that there are factors other than
economic nature that leads to non participation of elderly in economic
roles. The standard of life of elderly in India, especially the urban
elderly, is steadily improving which is a great achievement; the quality
of life of rural elderly will also see significant improvements in the
decades to come. On the flip side, this rise in some particular aspects of
the standard of living is seen to be somehow associated with a decline
in elderly participation in economic activities. This could be an
indicator of how our economy is unable to create job opportunities
that suits the strengths and weaknesses of elderly on one hand and on
the other the elderly are unwilling to take up economic roles that do
not satisfy, suit or embrace their strengths and weaknesses. Hence a
dual approach of creating economic roles that suit the elderly and
making these roles socially valued and respected is necessary.
Integrating Elderly into Community: A Socio-Economic Model 421

Valued Economic Roles: A New Paradigm to Integrate Economic

and Social Aspects towards Successful Ageing
With the aim of successfully integrating the individual and social
realms of the elderly concepts are drawn from life span approach, devel-
opmental psychology and successful ageing to propagate a socially
valued and individually beneficial model of economic participation. The
framework could be conceptualised as a pyramidal structure.

Life Span Approach and Developmental Psychology: The

Foundation for Integration of Elderly into Economic Workforce
Life span approach is one of the major themes in developmental
psychology and life is divided into different phases based on age
categories in this approach. Life span approach in developmental
psychology stresses on the importance of developmental tasks that are
crucial in promoting healthy development of an individual across
different life spans. The idea of developmental task was introduced by
Havighrust (1953) which he defined as one that arises predictably and
consistently at or about a certain period in the life of the individual
attaining which is important in progressing to the next stage of life. It
is the midway between an individual need and a social demand; an
integrating factor between personal motivation and social requisites.
(Ibid.). Two of the tasks that are specific to old age as enlisted by
Havighrust relevant in the context of economic participation are
‘adjusting to retirement and decreased income’ and ‘meeting social and
civil obligations’. With the changing global scenario of improvements
in standard of living and the trend of population ageing these tasks
should be reinterpreted as per the need of the times. Adjusting to
retirement could positively be interpreted as not a cessation of work
but a rescheduling of the work patterns and working in one’s capacity
422 Indian Journal of Gerontology

to remain active during the process of ageing. The rescheduling of

work and working as per one’s capacity will facilitate a counter
mechanism to sudden cessation of income and thus help the individual
to compensate the reduction in income to a great extent. The other
developmental task viz. Meeting civil and social obligations should be
reinterpreted in the changing global scenario of population ageing.
The elderly constitute a considerable portion of the population and
the economy and consequently the development of the nation look
forward to its workforce. The participation of able elderly in the
economic force could contribute to better status of the nation. Hence
it would turn out that emancipating the nation is a social as well as
civil obligation in the wider picture.

Successful Ageing: The Model to Integrate Subjective and

Objective Aspects of Integrating Elderly into Economic Roles
Having placed economic participation as an obligation as well as
an activity contributing to the welfare of the individual elderly as the
foundation we look into models for successfully carrying out the
same. It is then that the concept of successful or active ageing comes
into play. Successful ageing as put by Rowe and Khan (1997) includes “
… three main components: low probability of disease and
disease-related disability, high cognitive and physical functional
capacity, and active engagement with life … successful ageing is more
than absence of disease, important though that is, and more than the
maintenance of functional capacities, important as it is. Both are
important components of successful ageing, but it is their combination
with active engagement with life that represents the concept of
successful ageing most fully.” Successful ageing was reappraised as
active ageing by WHO and it was defined as “ … the process of
optimising opportunities for health, participation and security in
order to enhance the quality of life as people age” (WHO 2002). The
idea of successful ageing has three domains and each of the domains are
crucial in ageing successfully. However, in the context of economic
participation the domain of ‘active engagement’ turns out to be quite
important. Active engagement with life has two major elements viz.
‘maintenance of interpersonal relationships’ and ‘productive activity’
(Rowe, and Kahn, 1997). The latter could be instrumental in helping
elderly perform economic roles while feeling personally staying
healthy in the process of ageing. It is found that contrary to the
Integrating Elderly into Community: A Socio-Economic Model 423

popular belief the elderly make productive contributions; often as

unpaid voluntary work. (Americans Changing Life Survey, 1994).
Further it was found in a 2007 study among working elderly that 48.1
per cent of the working elderly in the USA show low likelihood to
involve in paid work, 35.4 per cent of them showed very low
likelihood of participation in economically productive activities, 14.9
per cent showed a moderate likelihood of engaging in paid work and
only 3.6 per cent were actively involved in economically productive
activities. (Jeffrey et. al., 2007). It is clear that elderly engage in
productive activities but the number of elderly working in economi-
cally productive activities comparatively less. If the productive activity
of elderly could be used in such a manner that they are economically
productive as well it could be a great boost to the economy while
contributing to healthy ageing and improved life standards of the
elderly. It is at this point that the concept of ‘valued economic roles’
comes into play.

Valued Economic Roles: The Means to Integrate Elderly into

Economic Roles
‘Valued social roles’ was a holistic term introduced by
Wolfensberger through the framework of ‘Social Role Valorization’
which involves bringing about positive changes in the lives of disad-
vantaged population. (Wolfensberger, W., 1983). The fundamental
notion behind role valorising is that better life is accessible to people
who enjoy valued social roles and those with devalued social roles find
it tough to attain a better life. In short if a person is in a valued social
role he/she could experience a positive integration into the
community. There is a triad of opportunities that valued social roles
offer viz. acceptance, belonging and contribution. (Schultz, B. and
Held, R., 2014). These three opportunities help the individual to attain
personal satisfaction and at the same time can contribute to the
progression of the community. Old age is often associated with ‘deval-
uation’; often ascribed with negative social roles like senility,
dependency etc. (Ibid.) which could lead to lesser ‘active engagement
with life’ which would in turn be an impediment to active ageing.
However, if we are able to promote the idea of valued social roles in
our community we could easily integrate elderly into the mainstream
of the society successfully while benefiting them personally, as well as
bringing about larger community welfare as well.
424 Indian Journal of Gerontology

Within the framework of valued social roles we could formulate

the idea of ‘valued economic roles’ wherein elderly are able to perform
economic roles in such a manner that they are able to engage in
economically productive activities which provide them the triad of
benefits viz. acceptance, belonging and contribution. By valued
economic roles what is envisioned is a set of economic roles newly
formulated or already existing economic roles that are reformulated in
such a framework that the elderly are able to participate in economic
roles in their own terms without being devalued. The contribution of
elderly should be dignified as real contribution to the economic
framework of the community. Hence the subjective aspects that
elderly consider important for participating in economic roles should
be given due importance for promoting valued economic roles; this
would involve flexibility in working hours, working pattern, nature
of work, job satisfaction, dignity and decent pay. ‘Valued economic
roles’ should not be confused with mere ‘economic participation’; it is
not just making elderly participate in labour force but it involves
creating an atmosphere where the community facilitate a ‘fully
belonging’ feel to the elderly by making them actively involve in
productive activities including economically productive activities. In
short ‘valued economic roles’ can help the elderly to transform from
mere passive clients to active contributors which can positively
influence their psyche and hence facilitate successful ageing of the
individual as well as facilitate growth of the community. Interventions
at policy level, community level and individual level are required in
order to facilitate valued economic roles for elderly so that integration
of elderly into economic force may be possible.

Conclusion
The study analysed the trends in participation of elderly in the
economic workforce against the background of population ageing and
it was found that elderly participation in economically productive
activities is on a decline as the level of education, area of residence,
standard of living and other positive amenities rise. This trend could
adversely affect India as the standard of living of the elderly and
population ageing are on a rise in India which is expected to attain
many bigger feats in the decades to come. The elderly population that
forms a large chunk of the population and those with the potential and
Integrating Elderly into Community: A Socio-Economic Model 425

zeal should be successfully integrated into the economic picture of the

nation without compromising the quality of life they enjoy. Such a
task could be attained through a framework wherein the subjective
demands of the well being of elderly should holistically be met while
making them active economic participants in the society. This task of
integrating both the subjective and objective aspects is attempted to be
conceptualised by integrating approaches from developmental
psychology, life span approach, successful ageing and social role valori-
sation. Having placed life span approach and developmental
psychology as the objective foundations to attain the aim, the concept
of successful ageing is adapted as a model wherein elderly can subjec-
tively seek their well being while actively contributing to economic
productivity. This model could be realised through the means of
‘valued roles’ which involves providing opportunities to the elderly
citizens to make contributions that are valuable to society through
means that are dignified and are in unison with their special require-
ments. This conceptual framework requires further studies to explore
more possibilities of integrating elderly into economic roles through
policy level, community level and individual level interventions.
Further, studies are also required to categorically analyse the nature of
economic participation across genders, trends in this framework could
possibly serve as a platform for transcending the nature of economic
roles of elderly while contributing to successful ageing of the
individual; as well as tackling the challenges raised by population
ageing and thus contribute to personal and community well being.

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