Dutch people hardly prepared for their old age, survey shows

The Dutch are hardly prepared for their old age and the care that comes with it. This is the conclusion drawn by ActiZ, the umbrella organization for care for the elderly, based on a survey it commissioned of more than a thousand people. The trade association has therefore launched a campaign to raise awareness.

More than 80 percent of Dutch people have not yet made concrete arrangements for the care they will need in old age. More than half also do not talk to others about their old age. For example, they think they are still too young or don't know what can be arranged now. Only a quarter of all Dutch people think about it regularly.

"These are numbers to literally worry about," responds Anneke Westerlaken, chairman of ActiZ. "Due to the increasing aging of the population and all the challenges that healthcare already faces, every Dutch person has to start thinking about getting older now." According to ActiZ, the Dutch consider themselves old when they are around 73 years old.

Westerlaken says it is important that people are prepared for the care they will receive when they are old. Not only for themselves, but also for loved ones. According to Westerlaken, many problems can then be prevented. "Like loneliness or the risk of falling." As a simple example, she gives the removal of thresholds in the home.

According to the trade association, the research shows that three-quarters of all Dutch people are willing to take care of their own partner. And 60 percent want to do the same for their own parents. That satisfies Westerlaken. "That's good, because the challenges in healthcare are not only the problem of elderly care, but of the whole of the Netherlands."

The province of Noord-Brabant announced on Friday that it would donate 100,000 euros to the old racing organization KBO-Brabant in order to raise awareness about care and elderly care. This would enable older people to think about living arrangements such as courtyards and "neighborhood living," a form of assisted living in their own neighborhood.