The population in Denmark is becoming weighted increasingly towards older age groups. Simultaneously many younger people are migrating from the rural areas to the bigger cities. The result of these two tendencies is a relative concentration of older people in rural areas in Denmark. This development raises four important questions that the report attempts to answer. 1) The first question concerns the exact proportion of older people in Danish peripheral municipalities 2) The second question concerns the relative increase of older citizens in Danish peripheral municipalities? It is common knowledge that different age groups have different needs of public services and that their contributions to the public sector as tax payers vary. A third important question is therefore: 3) Does the geographical distribution of age groups represent an economic challenge to peripheral municipalities? A final question concerns the quality of life among elder rural citizens. 4) How do people in peripheral municipalities experience old age?
In the first part of the report (Chapters 2-3), the focus is on the development of the age structure of the population in the peripheral municipalities in Denmark from 2008 to 2014. The description is based on a division of the population in three age groups, 0-19 year, 70 and above. The share of older people has risen from 13% to 15% of the population in the peripheral municipalities. The smaller municipalities have the largest share of older people.
The number of older people in the peripheral municipalities is compared with the number of people in the 20-69 year group. The proportion of the older people to the middle-age group has increased, and compared to the similar proportion for the whole country the increase is much bigger. According to an official population extrapolation of older and middle-aged people, this development is likely to continue in the next 10 to 20 years. In that case the peripheral municipalities may be faced with unprecedented budget challenges.
In the second part of the report (Chapter 4), which is based on a qualitative study in the municipality of Tønder in Southern Denmark, focus is on old people and quality of life in rural Denmark. This part of the report explores experiences of infrastructural challenges, such as access to basic services and transport. Furthermore this part of the report sheds some light on the social relations and civic participation of older people in rural areas.
The report indicates that villages in the municipality of Tønder are found to be goold places to become old. This is particularly the case among older citizens whose health condition is reasonable and who have lived in or near the same village for a long time and who have many local relationships. However, in order for life to be comfortable in villages, certain requirements need to be met. First and foremost, there is a need for an accessibility of supermarkets or grocery stores. For old people who do not own a car and live in villages without grocery stores, rural life can be a challenge. Most of the older respondents who participated in the project pointed to their dependency upon a car as an essential feature of rural life as public transport to larger cities where doctors and hospitals are found too irregular.
The second part of the report further shows that many elders in villages of the Municipality of Tønder have strong networks to relatives, friends and neighbours. Finally it is shown that leisure activities and different kinds of civil participation such as voluntary work are important in terms of creating and maintaining strong networks in rural Denmark.
The report concludes that quality of life for the old in rural Denmark can be high. In order to make sure that this continues to be, the report suggests that municipalities implement electronic solutions to infrastructural challenges. Telemedicine and online grocery stores could be a possible way forward. It is also important that elders in rural areas have access to transportation to hospitals and doctors in nearby larger cities. Finally it is recommended that municipalities continuously secure a proper framework for the leisure activities and civil participation of rural elders.