The status of South Asia's growing elderly population

Populations in South Asia, although less aged than other populations of Asia and the West, are aging rapidly. This paper presents demographic, social, and economic characteristics of the elderly in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, and reviews evidence on whether or not the family situation and status of the elderly have changed in recent decades. There is not strong evidence that the status of the elderly has declined nor that it was uniformly high in the past, but there is indication that economic power has long been an important determinant of status. The paper concludes with a discussion of how future elderly may be different from today's, the limits on developing programs for the elderly in countries at relatively low levels of economic development, and the need for additional research on the elderly of South Asia.