We know a little more about the end of confinement in France. Monday evening, the President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, addressed the nation for the fourth time since the start of the new coronavirus epidemic. He said strict confinement should be observed until May 11. But not by all French people: "For their protection, we will ask the most vulnerable people, the elderly, or those with severe disabilities, or suffering from chronic diseases, to stay, even after May 11, confined", a clarified the head of state. Not without arousing the curiosity, even the susceptibility of some readers of 20 Minutes :
"From what age are we old? »Régine
"How old is the government when it says seniors?" »Françoise
“I am 65 years old, but I still feel young. Am I a senior citizen, in the words of the president? »Pascal
Here are the answers we found:
These questions may seem grinning, but they deserve a clear answer. Very difficult to bring.
Whether it is on the WHO site, or that of the Ministry of Solidarity and Health, is considered today as an elderly person any person reaching and exceeding the 60 years mark. But that was not always the case, recalled the sociologist Bernard Ennuyer in his work Gerontology and society , published in 2011 by the Fondation national de gérontologie editions. Unable to reach him on Tuesday, we present extracts from his study, found on the Cairn.info site.
Entry into old age varies depending on the period
We learn that the answers to the question "At what age are we old?" »Vary in the polls and this, according to the very age of the respondents, and their socio-professional category. Quoting the Laroque report (published in 1962 by Pierre Laroque and considered to be the founding support of old age policy in France), Bernard Ennuyer emphasizes that "the elderly are therefore defined as those 65 and over, which is the age of the retirement of the time ", and because" the life expectancy at birth of men 67 years and that of women 73.6 years ". And, "due to the proximity of the average retirement age and the average age of end of life, we have equated" retired "with" elderly "".
An estimate that evolved in the 1990s, including in the discourse of INSEE, adds the sociologist: "In social as well as physiological terms, the expression" elderly ", in common use, does not no precise definition. It cannot be determined with certainty, either for a person or for an age group, when they should be included among the elderly. "However," INSEE, in its statistics, continues to use the two thresholds of 60 or 65 years which confirm the idea that retired and elderly people are interchangeable, "notes Bernard Ennuyer.
"There is no statistical definition"
Contacted, INSEE, via its press office, told us “that there is no statistical definition of the elderly or the elderly. In the 2018 edition of the INSEE References - France social portrait, an approach was taken for people aged 65 or over, with different thematic insights on this population. It is this population of 65 years or more which was then qualified as senior ”.
However, "other articles or publications retain other age groups, depending on the subject addressed, or the data source," it is added. For example: here, the elderly or seniors are 60 years of age or older; there, on the subject of employment, the seniors are between 50 and 64 years old.
Our file on the coronavirus
Today, a person is considered elderly from the age of 60, according to the WHO. The UN organization predicts that humanity will have 2 billion by 2060. In France, there are currently 15 million, estimates the Ministry of Health; they will be 20 million in 2030 and almost 24 million in 2060.
So that you can see more clearly, 20 Minutes is trying to answer your questions, which you can send us by following the procedure below. Questions which should, we will be grateful, relate to a subject other than that addressed in the article above. And don't forget to leave your email in your message. Thank you in advance (and take care of yourself)!
Society
France has 67 million inhabitants but births continue to drop
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