The elderly of Helsinki are well-off, but enjoy it for a shorter time
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LIVING
Housing standards for the elderly in the capital are relatively high. The typical home would be an owner-occupied apartment with two rooms, kitchen and bathroom. More than half of the elderly live spaciously, and just 4% are in homes that are not adequately equipped with basic services. Some 42% of those over 65 are married, 16% are divorced, and 30% are widowed. Nearly half of those over retirement age live alone - women more often than men. The time for sheltered housing comes after 75, and old people’s homes and the like after 85 is reached.
HOME EQUIPMENT
The homes of the pensioners living in the Greater Helsinki region are well-equipped. Nearly all have a colour-TV and a fixed-line phone. One in two owns a mobile phone, and a fairly impressive 16% have a PC. "Silver Surfers" using the Net and sending e-mail account for some 10% of all retired persons. Four in ten have a car and one in three a summer cottage.
EDUCATION
Helsinki pensioners are more highly educated than Finnish pensioners in general, although relative to the average for the population as a whole, they fall well behind. Nearly 60% do not have any academic qualification beyond the basic school certificate of compulsory education, usually to the age of 16.
INCOMES
Again, relative to the situation in the country as a whole, Helsinki’s retired population is quite well-off. They retire later than their colleagues elsewhere. For two out of three, the most important source of revenue is their income-related, index-linked employment pension. The average size of the gross pension is EUR 1,318 a month, or 266 euros more than in the country as a whole. Helsinki pensioners can also call on twice the wealth in terms of real property, and they pay more in tax than their fellows in the provinces.
CONSUMPTION
In the Greater Helsinki region, some 85% of income in pensioner households goes on consumption. The older the people become, the more attractive saving seems to be. Living expenses and food take the largest share - with living costs growing at a faster rate. Health care comes next, followed by culture and free-time pursuits.
FREE-TIME
The daily rhythm of the elderly broadly follows that of those of working age. Most go to bed by 10 p.m. and half are already awake by 7 in the morning. Elderly people spend the bulk of their days at home. They meet their friends more often than do people of working age and they tend to take more exercise, participate in clubs and organisations, watch more television, and read more. They are active consumers of culture: they go to the theatre, to concerts, and increasingly also to thecinema. Travelling is commonplace. Culture-related trips are made inside Finland and abroad.
NEED OF ASSISTANCE
Half of the Helsinki residents over the age of 60 feel a need for help in getting through the day-to-day round. In most cases it is provided by friends and relatives. The use of private domestic services is rare, with the possible exception of cleaners coming in. These are used by 24% of women, and by 12% of men. Pensioners also provide help to others. The most obvious and common form is in looking after (grand)children.
LIFE EXPECTANCY
The life expectancy of Helsinki residents has increased in the past daced by slightly less than three years. It is now 76.8 years, or around a year less than the national average. The figure for women in the capital is 80.1 years, and for men 72.8 years. Elderly people in Helsinki live at home well into old age. The challenge for the health authorities in people living long alone in their own homes is illnesses such as vascular dementia, manifested for instance in loss of memory. The most common cause of death for the elderly of the Finnish capital is likely to be cardiovascular complaints.
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 10.1.2005
Source: City of Helsinki Urban Facts
More on this subject:
 The unstoppable greying of Helsinki
Helsingin Sanomat
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