Almost 15 million elderly Indians live all alone and close to three-fourths of them are women. In some states like Tamil Nadu the proportion of such ‘single elders’ is even higher with one in eleven of those aged above 60 living alone. One in every seven elderly persons in India lives in a household where there is nobody below the age of 60. In states like Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, a quarter of the elderly population lives in such all-elderly households.
This was revealed in Census 2011 data on the number of elderly people (above 60 years) and household size released this week. Of the nearly 250 million households in India, 31.3% have at least one elderly person. If we take away those elderly living alone or in elderly-only households from this number, just over 27% of households or 68 million households have elderly living with younger members. In almost 70% of households there is nobody above the age of 60.
To read the original article in the Times of India, go here. ( https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/15-million-elderly-Indians-live-all-alone-Census/articleshow/43948392.cms )
