Summary
The 17th anniversary of the International Day of Older Persons is celebrated on the 1st of October 2007. In this context, Statistics Portugal releases some data on aged population in Portugal. The number of older people (ages over 65) has increased, particularly people aged over 80, and the majority are women. In the next 25 years the number of older people will be able to exceed the double of the number of young. The majority of the aged ones live with the spouse. The ratio of women that live alone is triple than the same ratio for the men. Almost one quarter of the individuals, that had left the last employment with 50 years old or over, spent 40 to 44 years working for pay or profit. The fact of having reached the compulsory retirement age was the main reason pointed for retirement or early retirement. The individuals who were employed and receiving (or entitled to receive) a retirement pension declared as an incentive to stay at work the need to generate a sufficient household income. The use of computer and Internet by the older people has been growing.