Age Is Only a Number
Vilnius is the capital and most intercultural city in Lithuania. You can find different kind of religion, orientation or social status people in here. That does not mean that everything runs smoothly and there is no feeling of discrimination. Social groups like jews, polish or LGBTQ and etc. always appear in our news fighting for their rights on national level. It is not surprising because it is like that in many countries in the world. What is shocking is that the Lithuanians forget about our elderly, state of the retirement homes and poor conditions of their lives.
Virginija is a 70 year old woman living in Vilnius. She has retired 8 years ago. She is disappointed with our government' approach to elders. Sometimes you can understand when there is no money for expensive elder treatment. But places like retirement houses, hospitals or sanatoriums should be at least at an acceptable state. She told us her mom’s story when she had to go to a retirement house. Virginija said, “I cannot even imagine how you have to live in these kind of conditions. My mom had to sleep with a jacket and with all her clothes on. The food was disgusting and portions were too small. I took my mom back home even though my finances were at a really poor state at that time. I hate even to think about that most likely I will be there too.” Virginija also revealed her retirement salary. She is getting only 150 euros per month. She said, “Thank God I have my sons. If they were not here, I do not know how I would be able to pay taxes or buy food.”
Another example – Laima. She is a 75 year old woman living in Birstonas, 90 kilometres from Vilnius. She has worked her tail off her whole life. She was working for 45 years. Laima was a math teacher at school. She is retired for 6 years now. She also mentioned her retirement salary. It goes around 450 euros per month. Looking at the prices and Laima’s salary it is a shame that the amount of money is so small. Laima said, “I never lived a luxurious life so I do not have really big concerns about my salary. It is just kind of strange that I worked for so long and get so little”. The one thing that concerns Laima the most is not money. She is most concerned about the government’s attitude to the elderly. She feels useless in this country and our government is waiting for people like Laima to die. Laima told, “Other countries in the world look in these kind of things as an investment. The Lithuanian government sees us like dependents. So how can we think about cultural and economical increases without investing?”
The percentage of the Lithuanian elderly is increasing rapidly. By 2017 one third of all people living in Lithuania were elders and the numbers are only increasing. It will be very interesting to see how our government will cope with our elderly in coming years.
Virginija is a 70 year old woman living in Vilnius. She has retired 8 years ago. She is disappointed with our government' approach to elders. Sometimes you can understand when there is no money for expensive elder treatment. But places like retirement houses, hospitals or sanatoriums should be at least at an acceptable state. She told us her mom’s story when she had to go to a retirement house. Virginija said, “I cannot even imagine how you have to live in these kind of conditions. My mom had to sleep with a jacket and with all her clothes on. The food was disgusting and portions were too small. I took my mom back home even though my finances were at a really poor state at that time. I hate even to think about that most likely I will be there too.” Virginija also revealed her retirement salary. She is getting only 150 euros per month. She said, “Thank God I have my sons. If they were not here, I do not know how I would be able to pay taxes or buy food.”
Another example – Laima. She is a 75 year old woman living in Birstonas, 90 kilometres from Vilnius. She has worked her tail off her whole life. She was working for 45 years. Laima was a math teacher at school. She is retired for 6 years now. She also mentioned her retirement salary. It goes around 450 euros per month. Looking at the prices and Laima’s salary it is a shame that the amount of money is so small. Laima said, “I never lived a luxurious life so I do not have really big concerns about my salary. It is just kind of strange that I worked for so long and get so little”. The one thing that concerns Laima the most is not money. She is most concerned about the government’s attitude to the elderly. She feels useless in this country and our government is waiting for people like Laima to die. Laima told, “Other countries in the world look in these kind of things as an investment. The Lithuanian government sees us like dependents. So how can we think about cultural and economical increases without investing?”
The percentage of the Lithuanian elderly is increasing rapidly. By 2017 one third of all people living in Lithuania were elders and the numbers are only increasing. It will be very interesting to see how our government will cope with our elderly in coming years.