Still young, but aging

01/10/2011 00:00

Albania continues to be a country with a young average age under 33
years old. But births have started decreasing since 1960, a tendency
that has been confirmed by the last population registration of 2001.
This draws attention to the fact that the Albanian society is aging.

Albania counts today 29 public and not public retirement homes, licensed by the Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities, that offer shelter food and activities for 1700 senior age citizens.

The main conditions for being admitted are the absence of caring relatives and revenues. This is verified by the local administration. The Retirement Home in the Albanian Capital has 30 residents and 20 others that come to spend the days there.

“There are a series of activities in this center. The senior citizens want to go out. They have seen even the new highway, the tunnel, and have gone to Kosovo”, says Denada Seferi, director of policies and services.

The International Day of Senior Citizens is an occasion for these senior citizens to receive several gifts and visits by high rank politicians. The Prime Minister promised that this center would be reconstructed. The reconstruction plan will be discussed by everyone, for making it more comfortable to the residents. The Prime Minister was focused only on these days and refused to comment the political actuality.

Luckily, the pension age is not 70 years yet, as Berisha proposed it to the government some days ago. Otherwise, these residents would not be resting here, but working somewhere to keep themselves, if they would have ever been able to find a job.

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