afraid of getting older, afraid of some of the things that I control “I’m can’t and worried about the (55-64 years) future.” (18-25 years) “It’s terrible.” to be (65+ years) “It’s avoided.” Younger respondents (under 30 years) are generally more negative about the concept of ageing. These participants are less able to articulate specific concerns and more likely to simply be concerned about the broader issues associated with health, welfare, financial stability and housing access. Their views are more likely to be linked to the concept of loss associated with ageing (loss of health, loss of hearing, loss of mental capacity, loss of income). Members of this group find it extremely difficult to identify any benefits associated with ageing and many indicated it is simply not something they have given much thought to at this point in their lives. All respondents were asked to indicate how old someone of was and to ‘old age’ indicate how old an Australian was. There is little difference in the perception ‘elderly’ of old age between community and business respondents, reporting a mean age of 61.7 and 62.5 respectively. Perceptions of the age of an Australian are also ‘elderly’ similar, reporting a mean of 70.5 at a national community level and a mean of 72 years in the business sample. There are differences in perception between younger and older participants. Within the community sample, the mean age of for respondents aged 18-24 years ‘old age’ is 55.9 years, compared to 66.9 years for respondents aged 65+ years a difference – in perception of more than 10 years. The differences between age cohorts are similar when the concept of being is discussed. Younger respondents (those aged ‘elderly’ 18-24 years) indicate that an Australian is someone aged 66.7 years while ‘elderly’ those aged 65+ years indicate that an Australian is 74.4 years. ‘elderly’ In addition to age, other factors impact on a respondent’s opinions: The average age of is higher for females (62 years) when ‘old age’ compared to males (61 years). Personal experience also has a major impact. Respondents who have a relationship with an older person have a higher average age for ‘old age’ when compared to respondents who have no relationship with an older person (60.7 compared to 56.6 years).
“I’m afraid of getting older, afraid of some of the things that I can’t control and worried about the future.” (55-64 years) “It’s terrible.” (18-25 years) “It’s to be avoided.” (65+ years) Younger respondents (under 30 years) are generally more negative about the concept of ageing. These participants are less able to articulate specific concerns and more likely to simply be concerned about the broader issues associated with health, welfare, financial stability and housing access. Their views are more likely to be linked to the concept of loss associated with ageing (loss of health, loss of hearing, loss of mental capacity, loss of income). Members of this group find it extremely difficult to identify any benefits associated with ageing and many indicated it is simply not something they have given much thought to at this point in their lives. All respondents were asked to indicate how old someone of ‘old age’ was and to indicate how old an ‘elderly’ Australian was. There is little difference in the perception of old age between community and business respondents, reporting a mean age of 61.7 and 62.5 respectively. Perceptions of the age of an ‘elderly’ Australian are also similar, reporting a mean of 70.5 at a national community level and a mean of 72 years in the business sample. There are differences in perception between younger and older participants. Within the community sample, the mean age of ‘old age’ for respondents aged 18-24 years is 55.9 years, compared to 66.9 years for respondents aged 65+ years – a difference in perception of more than 10 years. The differences between age cohorts are similar when the concept of being ‘elderly’ is discussed. Younger respondents (those aged 18-24 years) indicate that an ‘elderly’ Australian is someone aged 66.7 years while those aged 65+ years indicate that an ‘elderly’ Australian is 74.4 years. In addition to age, other factors impact on a respondent’s opinions: The average age of ‘old age’ is higher for females (62 years) when compared to males (61 years). Personal experience also has a major impact. Respondents who have a relationship with an older person have a higher average age for ‘old age’ when compared to respondents who have no relationship with an older person (60.7 compared to 56.6 years).
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