Context: The Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM) has released the Quality of Life for Elderly Index.

About Quality of Life for Elderly Index

• Created by: Institute for Competitiveness at the request of EAC-PM.
• Purpose: The report identifies the regional patterns of ageing across the Indian States and assesses the overall ageing situation in India. It also presents a deeper insight into how well India is doing to support the well-being of its ageing population.

Significance of Quality of Life for Elderly Index

• It sheds light on an issue often not mentioned- problems faced by the elderly.
• It presents a deeper insight into how well India is doing to support the well-being of its ageing population.
• It goes far beyond the adequacy of pensions and other forms of income support, which, though critical, often narrows policy thinking and debate about the needs of this age group.
• It highlights that the best way to improve the lives of the current and future generations of older people is by investing in health, education and employment for young people today.

Pillars and Sub Pillars of the index

• Four Pillars: Financial Well-being, Social Well-being, Health System and Income Security
• Eight Sub-Pillars: Economic Empowerment, Educational Attainment & Employment, Social Status, Physical Security, Basic Health, Psychological Well being, Social Security and Enabling Environment.

Key Findings of the Index
Elderly Population

• India is currently enjoying the demographic dividend. But the age group above the age of 65 will become the fastest-growing age group by 2050. 
• The share of elders, as a percentage of the total population in the country, is expected to increase from around 7.5% in 2001 to almost 12.5% by 2026, and surpass 19.5% by 2050.
• Further, there will be a significantly higher proportion of women than men in the higher age cohort due to higher life expectancy.

State-wise assessment

• Rajasthan is the top scorer in the aged states’ category, defined as states with an elderly population of more than 5 million.
• Himachal Pradesh leads in the Relatively-Aged States section (below 5 million population).
• Mizoram leads in the North Eastern States category and Chandigarh among all UTs.

Pillar-wise Performance

• The Health System pillar observes the highest national average, 66.97 at an all-India level, followed by 62.34 in Social Well-being.
• Financial Well-being observes a score of 44.7. It is at a lower stage due to the low performance of 21 States across the Education Attainment & Employment pillar, which showcases scope for improvement.
• States have performed particularly worse in the Income Security pillar because over half of the States have a score below the national average in Income Security, which is the lowest across all pillars.