Ageing and senior citizen policy in Estonia

Mr. President,
Distinguished delegates,
Ladies and Gentlemen

The Estonian delegation has aligned with the statement made by the Spanish Presidency on behalf of the European Union. In my intervention I would like to focus on some issues related to ageing from a national perspective. 

Estonia is one of the fastest ageing nations in Europe. 

By January 2002, the population of Estonia was 1 361 000. If age-specific composition of the population is considered, the most characteristic tendency is the increase in percentage of senior citizens - in the beginning of year 2002, 15 % of the population was 65 years old or older, compared to 11 % in 1989. At the same time the percentage of young people in the age of less than 14 years had decreased by more than 20%. 

In the context of senior citizen policy, attention is mostly paid to citizens entitled to old-age pension. By January 2002 there were 298 thousand such citizens (209 thousand women and 89 thousand men), which is about 26 % of the total population. In Estonia, women tend to live much longer than men do, and the number of female pensioners exceeds that of male pensioners more than twice. 

Ageing of the population results in significant changes in the society's socioeconomical and political situation. The needs and consumption structures change, and the burden on public sector, incl. health care and social welfare systems tends to increase. 

The Estonian community has realised that the ageing of population must be accompanied by implementation of the respective ageing policy and senior citizen policy on both national and local level. 

What has been done so far:

      1. In September 1999, in connection with the international year of senior citizens, the Government of the Republic approved the 
      conception "Basics of Estonian Senior Citizen Policy", developed by the senior citizen policy committee of the Ministry of Social 
      Affairs. Estonian senior citizen policy is based on the internationally recognised principle "Society for all", which means that the 
      society consists of citizens of different age, each of whom must be provided with the possibility of participating in social life, 
      independent of age. Thus, the senior citizen policy concentrates on the ensuring of improved life quality, welfare, and ability to 
      cope independently, as well as on the creation and ensuring of possibilities for the living of social life on equal basis with other age
      groups. 

Senior citizen policy is aimed at the following fields: family and environment; health care and welfare; employment and coping; education, culture, and sports; non-profit associations and self-assistance; regional and international co-operation. 

The priorities are:

      · offering of assistance to people in order to ensure that they remain active in old age; promotion of preventive health care 
      measures in order to ensure good health even in great age; 
      · promotion of possibilities for activity and creativity;
      · creation of the possibility to participate, decide, and bear responsibility on political levels; 
      · promotion of the value of voluntary work;
      · offering to families of help associated with coexistence of different generations and care of family members in need of nursing. 

The objective of Estonian senior citizen policy for the years immediately ahead is the supporting of activity of elderly people, as well as reintegration into the Estonian society of senior citizens who no longer participate actively in social life. 

      2. Implementation of the conception has commenced; the "National Programme for the Implementation of Estonian Senior Citizen
      Policy for the years 2002-    2005" (subject to goal-oriented financing) has been developed and approved by the Government in 
      January 2002. 

The purpose of the programme is to prevent social exclusion of senior citizens and to provide them with equal possibilities for active participation in social life. The programme is intended for the improvement of coping skills of senior citizens in the changing world, improvement of social welfare services offered to them, improvement of the competence of people rendering welfare services, and notification of the general public about the issues associated with senior citizens. 

      3. The composition of "Target Programme of the Ageing of Estonian Population" has been initiated. The objective of the 
      programme is to design a social life arrangement model promoting better implementation of the potential concealed in the age 
      structure of Estonian population, as well as in its transformation. 

      4. "Estonian Nursing Care Network Development Plan" is currently under composition. 

      5. In case of welfare, the objective is to cut down social services characterised by low level of personal liability and high cost, and 
      develop social services supporting independent coping. The latter is labelled in Estonia with the concept of open care. The 
      development of open care increases the need for day centres - currently there are about 60 day centres in Estonia. 

During the next years, greater emphasis shall be laid on voluntary work and senior citizen self-assistance movement (the strong support the weak). The activities of various senior citizen organisations shall be supported. In the field of senior citizen welfare, care in their usual environment - home - shall be prioritised. Nursing care shall be developed, as well as provision of social welfare services at home (in 2001, various home services were provided to over 4000 senior citizens at least 65 years old). 

      6. Considering the rapid ageing of population, and the situation where the public pension alone is often not sufficient to ensure 
      adequate replacement income for the retired, the Government has initiated a pension reform, whereby the state pension system 
      will be supplemented with private funded pensions. As a part of the reform of the state pension insurance system, a regular 
      indexation of state pensions has been introduced to ensure that pensions in payment are increased at least in pace with increases 
      in cost of living. 

Thank you four your attention.