Empowering Senior Citizens

KOMPAS/ADITYA PUTRA PERDANA

Residents exercise on Aug. 9 at the Wisma Lansia Harapan Asri nursing home in Banyumanik subdistrict, Semarang, Central Java. The nursing home provides care for 68 elderly residents who hail from Semarang and its surrounding areas, as well as from Jakarta, Surabaya in East Java and Palembang, South Sumatra.

Indonesia is the midst of a demographic bonus, but it must prepare to enter the period of an aging population at the same time. Improvements in social welfare, including health care and education, have contributed to an increase in life expectancy; the consequence is a growing elderly population.

According to the 2015-2045 inter-census survey, people aged 65 years and above currently account for 6.51 percent of the country’s 266.911 million population. The proportion of elderly will continue to increase to approach 18 percent by 2045, or around 57 million people.