West Bank, Gaza among world’s worst places for seniors
Report says two territories rank 94th out of 96 places studied for people age 60+; Israel ranks high at 18th
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The collective entity of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip is the third worst place to grow old, according to the latest Global AgeWatch index of 96 countries published on Wednesday.
The report put the two territories in the company of African nations Malawi (93rd) and Mozambique (95th), and last placed Afghanistan.
Although the report stated that the two regions were graded relatively well in the categories of safety (73 percent) and satisfaction with public transport (74%), they scored poorly in the categories of health, life expectancy and relative psychological well being.
The territories ranked lowest overall in capability of older residents with poor levels of employment (30.1%) and educational attainment (12.6%) of residents over 60.
The two territories were down ten places from their ranking last year (84th).
Israel, however, saw its ranking improve slightly from last year, as the Jewish state came in at 18th place, three places higher than in 2013.
Israel received its highest score in the capability domain and performed well in the categories of life expectancy, employment (63.1%) and educational attainment (64.9%).
The Jewish state was sandwiched between the European countries of Ireland (17th) and Luxembourg (19th), coming in ten places after the United States (8th).
Norway, which finished second last year, switched places with neighbor Sweden to claim the top spot.
HelpAge International, the charity which compiled the list, said economic growth in itself was not enough to improve the lives of older people.
This year’s report focuses particularly on income security, namely pensions, which older people consistently identify as their top priority to fend off the risk of poverty.
The Times of Israel Community.