Poor and lonely in old age?
Künzelsau,13.07.2021 - The outlook for pensioners is bleak: Due to the threat of old-age poverty and growing loneliness, the 'well-deserved retirement' often becomes a real horror scenario. Current studies predict a steady increase in poverty among the elderly. Doctors warn of the health risks of growing social isolation. While the policy discusses an extension of the working life and higher pension contributions, the Wirtschaftsbioniker of the Gradido academy developed long a convincing solution for the supply of humans in the retirement. And in the conception of their new economic and financial model, they have also anchored a way out of loneliness in old age.
One in five pensioners could soon be at risk of old-age poverty
Although more and more pensioners have a middle income, the Bertelsmann Foundation already identified a steadily growing risk of old-age poverty in 2017 in its study "Development of old-age poverty until 2036". Pensioners whose net income is below 958 euros are considered to be at risk of poverty. With the risk of poverty among future pensioners set to rise from 16 percent in 2015 to 20 percent in 2036, one in five new pensioners could soon be at risk of old-age poverty. Due to demographic changes, fewer and fewer working people will have to pay for more and more pensioners.
The intergenerational contract has failed
"As long as the credit of some is the debt of others, no economic and financial model will work permanently", Bernd Hückstädt, the co-founder of the Gradido Academy, analyses the threatening current development. Based on the millennia-old success models of nature, the economic pioneers of the independent research institute have spent two decades developing a concept of the common good that is based on turning away from the debt money principle and introducing the Gradido (GDD). The basic ethical concept of the novel economic and financial system is based on the 'Threefold Good', in order to create the best possible opportunities for life and development for the individual, to secure the social life of the community and to protect nature to the best of our ability. People of all ages have the opportunity to receive 1000 Gradido (GDD) monthly as 'Active Basic Income'. In return, they take on tasks in the community that they enjoy doing and do particularly well. For the community also 1000 Gradido (GDD) per person and month are drawn, which makes taxes superfluous. The third pillar consists of another 1000 Gradido, which are drawn monthly for an environmental fund and dedicated to the protection of nature.
Lifelong security and care
In addition to the 'Active Basic Income', older people receive a further 1000 Gradido per month in the form of an 'Unconditional Basic Income' and are thus optimally provided for until the end of their lives. "We have created flexible solutions here to be able to guarantee care for each individual. Our goal is to take away people's fear of aging and instead give them back their dignity, their health and the joy of life - until the last day of life," says Margret Baier, the academy's managing director.
Social participation is essential for quality of life in old age
To achieve this goal, the Gradido model also builds on 'Unconditional Participation' in the life of the community. It enables every person to be involved in the common good for as long as they wish and to remain a part of social life. "Often old people no longer receive any positive affirmation at all and so develop a sense of no longer being needed. This paralyses and damages health, because participation in social life is indispensable even in old age," explains Margret Baier, "in addition, important social tasks can be fulfilled through the voluntary commitment of older people, which would otherwise be almost impossible to manage."
Loneliness can double dementia risk
Loneliness in old age and depressive moods affect both mental and physical health. "If people are socially isolated and have little social contact over a long period of time, this can also cause serious physical symptoms," also emphasizes Andreas Meyer-Lindenberg, psychiatrist and director at the Central Institute for Mental Health in Mannheim. After a four-year study of 800 elderly people, American scientists found that loneliness doubles the risk of developing senile dementia.
Gradido promises care until the end of life
"Our goal is for all people to be able to live safely, full, as healthy as possible and happily from the first to the last day of their lives", Bernd Hückstädt elaborates and adds: "Since the number of those whose everyday lives are miles away from these paradisiacal conditions and is growing daily, it is high time for a rethink. We therefore invite like-minded people of all ages to support us in our efforts for a peaceful transformation and to cooperate with the Gradido Academy".
Details about the Gradido model and the Gradido podcast at (www.gradido.net
About the Gradido Academy
The Gradido Academy for Economic Bionics has developed an alternative 'common good currency' based on the models of nature. Nature follows the rule that only where something passes away can something new emerge, and thus long-term improvement (evolution) is possible. Its recipe for success is the 'cycle of life'. If our economy were also to follow this natural cycle, then, according to the assessment of the bionic economists, practically all the world's monetary problems could be solved. The Gradido model is based on the idea that not only every person, but also every state receives income generated on a credit basis. It can thus fulfil all its tasks without having to collect taxes. Deflation or inflation are a thing of the past. The economy is freed from the constant compulsion to grow, the danger of a collapse of the financial system is finally averted.(www.gradido.net)