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Ageing in Iran: State, Family and Social Support

Susan Bastani

Associate Professor

Department of Sociology

Alzahra University

sbastani@alzahra.ac.ir

Iranian Sociological Association

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Historians may well

conclude that the most

significant event of the 20th century was ...? [1]

the growth of world population

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In the 21st century,

the most significant event may likely be ...? [1]

the ageing of humanity

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Proportions Aged 65+ and Under Five:1950-2050[2]

Goals

Explain the feature of the process of

aging in Iran

Explore the role of the State and family

(personal networks) in the provision of

support to the elderly men and women

Examine the association between the

characteristics of networks and attitude

toward the aging period

Ageing in Iran

We live in a 'population ageing' era

Some of the Asian countries have begun to

experience considerable increases in their

proportion of elderly people

The United Nations statistical projections

demonstrate rapid growth of elderly

population in Iran

The proportion of elderly is projected to double in

less than 20 years [4]

Iran still has a relatively young population

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57

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8

5

22

0

5

10

15

20

25

1950 2000 2050

Pe

rce

nt 6

5 y

ea

rs o

r o

lde

r

Year

Percent 60 Years or Older for World and Iran:

1950, 2000 and 2050

World

Iran

Proportion of people with 60 years old age and above in

Iran was 8.3 percent in 1950, 5.2 percent in 2000 and it

will increase to 21.7 percent in 2050 [1,6]

Ageing in Iran

Total size of population will fail to

double in the next 50 years

Number of elderly aged 65 years and

over will experience about five-fold

increase

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Population Pyramids of Iran;

1950, 2000 and 2050 [6]

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Ageing in Iran

Population ageing is the inevitable

consequence of attaining low levels of fertility

and mortality and long life

Changes in employment, health condition,

social network and other factors make this

period of life extensively challenging for the

elderly people

State and families need to consider ageing issues

more seriously now than the past

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State Organizations

Retirement organization

595400 persons covered by State

Retirement Organization

“Manzelat” cards

Welfare organization

206,876 persons in urban & 51,344

persons in rural areas receive pension

Imam Khomeini relief committee [7]

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Most of people loose their income source in

ageing period and become economically

dependent to others

Prices increase every year and this issue

deteriorates the ability of elderly to manage

their expenses (e.g., medical needs)

25 to 30% of the elderly in Iran did not benefit from

any medical insurance services [7]

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Gender Differences in

Ageing

Elderly males’ employment rate is 40%,

females employment rate is 3.2%

Elderly males have numerous sources for their

income

Employment, retiring pensions, possessions, and aids

received from their children

Females just benefit from aid received from their

children

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Illiteracy rate is very high among the elderly [8]

79% of urban females compared to 50.7% of urban

males

95% of rural females compared t0 71.5% of rural

males

Males’ marriage rate is two times more than

females

37-42% of females have a husband while 86-89% of

males have a wife

Men may marry for a second time following loss of their

wives while females remain widowed 15

Gender Differences in

Ageing

Vulnerable groups (i.e., the aged,

women head of family, widowed and

etc.) are not well protected by state

organizations and welfare system

They have to rely on their networks and

informal relationships to gain their

needed support

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Social Support: Basic

Terms

Social Networks

Social Support

Support Quality

Social Networks

Networks form the web of social relations or ties that surround us [9]

Intimate ties

Extended ties

Social Networks

Networks are measured in structural, interactional and functional ways

Size: number of contacts

Composition: proportion of specific relationships

Density: how many people know each other

Proximity: how close ties are

Reciprocity: how people help each other [9]

Types of Support [9]

Advice (discussing important and personal matters)

Emotional support

Financial support

Services (receiving or giving household aid and minor services)

Companionship (discussing ideas and doing things together)

Information

Definitions

Roles – spouse, parent, child, friend,

workmate, neighbors

Provide Support – give different types of

support

Receive Support – gain different types of

support

Data

• Several surveys of elderly living in Tehran,

capital of Iran

• Surveys include more than 500 structured,

face-to-face interviews with aged men and

women

Data Sets

Gender Differences in Ageing: Social

Networks and Social Support (Fateme

Zakaryaei)

Social Support and Quality of Life of Elderly

(Aghdas Mostafaee)

Social Exclusion and Life Satisfaction of

Elderly Men and Women (Fateme Rahnama)

Gender and Network Social capital (Maryam

Salehi-Hikooei)

Social Relationships and Social Inclusion of

Elderly (Fateme Rahnama)

Network Characteristics

More than 65 percent of the networks of

elderly men and women are composed

of their kin

Although kin occupy an important

position in the network, not all types of

kin are equally represented

Most ties tend to be with children and

spouse

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Network Characteristics by

Gender

Mean

Total

Mean

Women

Mean

Men Range

5.48 5.46 5.53 17-0 Immediate

Kin

10.65 9.35 12.20 100-0 Extended

Kin

1.74 1.82 1.65 15-0 Neighbors

4.29 3.59 5.12 50-0 Friends

1.49 0.47 2.70 30-0 Coworkers

23.67 20.69 27.22 116-0 Total 25

Elderly’s Support Networks

Most of the old men and women can get

resources from their support networks

when needed

Elderly women receive greater and

more varied types of support from their

networks

Men and women perform different

supportive roles

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Men are the main provider of financial

support and information

Women provide other types of support

such as emotional support and services

Main predictors of social support:

Frequency of contact

Level of intimacy

Marital status

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Elderly’s Support Networks

Attitude Toward Ageing

Positive outlook to ageing:

Elderly who have frequent contact with the

members of their networks

Elderly women compared to men

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Conclusion

State protection via organizations and

welfare system is not sufficient

Growing number of elderly increases the

need for different types of support

Elderly need to rely on their informal

networks to gain their needed support

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Conclusion

Providing social support is one of the main

functions of the family

Despite the small size of support networks,

they maintain their familial nature

The main provider of support are children

More women than men gain support from their

children

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Suggestions for Policy

Makers

Pay attention to positive socio-cultural

factors of the Iranian family

Encourage the families to support their

old parents with government support

Design cost-effective planning for

coverage of aged people needs in the

family

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Thank you!

References

1. Chamie, Joseph, 2007, Why Population Aging Matters: A

Global Perspective

http://www.populationassociation.org/wp-content/

2. United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs,

Population Division. World Population Prospects. The 2004

Revision. New York: United Nations, 2005

3. Weil DN: Population aging. [http://ssrn.com/abstract=893608].

4. Gavrilov LA, Heuveline P: Aging of Population. In The

Encyclopedia of Population Edited by: Demeny P, McNicoll G. New

York, Macmillan; 2003:32-37.

5. Jogataee M: The Elderly World Day. Monthly Magazine of

University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Science, Tehran,

Iran 2005, 11:2. [in Persian]

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References

6. United Nations: World Population Ageing: 1950-2050,

Countries of area: Iran (Islamic Republic of).

http://www.un.org/esa/population/publications/worldageing1950205

0/pdf/113iran

7. Tajvar, Maryam, Mohammad Arab and Ali Montazeri, 2008,

Determinants of health-related quality of life in elderly in

Tehran, Iran, BMC Public Health

http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2458/8/323

8. Iran aged survey, 1998. Status of Literacy among Iran's

Elderly, Survey of the Status of the Elderly of Iran University of

social welfare and rehabilitation.

9. Berkman, Lisa, 2007, Social Network, Health and Aging, Measuring Social Activity and Civic Engagement among Older Americans. http://www.agingsociety.org/agingsociety/

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References

10. Bastani, Susan, 2007, “Family Comes First: An Analysis of

Tehrani Men and Women’s Social Networks,” Social Networks , 29:

357-374.

11. Bastani, Susan, 2001, Middle Class Community in Tehran:

Social Networks, Social Support and Marital Relationships, Ph.D.

Thesis, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.

12. Teymoori, Fariba, Asghar Dadkhah, and Marzieh Shirazikhah,

2006, “Social Welfare and Health (Mental, Social, Physical) Status

of Aged People in Iran,” Middle East Journal of Age and Ageing;

3:1-7.

http://www.me-jaa.com/mejaa6/socialwelfare.htm

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