Who and what are we ?

For statistical information go to the sections which follow the details of what our organisation is about .

Some information about the living situation of older people

Some factual information about older people

Grey Power was originally established in Auckland by a group of Superannuitants who felt they were particularly disadvantaged by the surcharge regime established by the government of the time .

Since that time the aims and objects of the Federation have been greatly expanded with 78 Associations established throughout New Zealand with 80,000 members - all these Associations belong to Grey Power New Zealand Federation Inc with headquarters in Auckland .

The office holders of the Federation are elected each year by the representatives of the Associations at the Annual General Meeting so that the Federation is representative of the Associations

Our own Association , "Greypower Christchurch Superannuitants Association ((Inc) " , which along with most other Associations is an Incorporated Society had its 14^th Annual General Meeting this June . Our membership is presently some 4300 which is not high a percentage of the elderly in Christchurch as we would like but new members are joining in a regular pattern so our membership is steadily increasing although the ravages of time does deplete our numbers.

Our activities are mainly in the area of lobbying central and local government and providing assistance to our members with advice when requested - we do not provide services in the form of recommended tradesmen , outings and suchlike activities as these functions are provided more than adequately by Age Concern who have an excellent organisation in Christchurch.

We hold monthly meetings , every third Wednesday at 1.30 pm , at the various Workingmen?s and other Clubs around the city where we bring the members who attend up to date with our activities by having some of our committee give a short address - this is followed by a guest speaker with a topic that is of interest to our members .

We do not have an established office as attempts in the past to organise one have not been successful but we do have a Grey Power phone line that our members can ring for assistance with their queries. Although we may not be able to provide advice on all questions we are mostly able to direct the query to someone who can provide the details .

We also make contact with our members every Tuesday through our hour long programme on Plains FM 96.9 starting at 4.00 with a review of topics of the week followed by guest commentators , interspersed with music requested by our members

Our community activities mainly centre around our members being volunteers to man the Community Constable?s office in four locations , to take the incoming calls and deal with routine matters to allow the Constable to about in the community .

Our committee meets every month to organise our various activities. A number of sub committees which deal with specific topics like health and welfare etc.. Our health committee , for instance , has regular meetings with a forum of social workers, health professionals and providors and meetings with personnel from the two Hospitals. Also where applicable the HFA to discuss and clarify health queries . It has also been responsible for two petitions to Parliament which have required both written and oral presentations to the Parliamentary Select Committee concerning the lack of funding for home help services and lack of sufficient beds in the winter for Christchurch. We were active in the heart unit debate lobbying Council and Government.

The main activity however is pressing Government for answers on behalf of our members involving either direct contact with some of the fourteen Parliamentarians in the area or writing to the Minister or Department concerned about the problem or query .

On the local scene we regularly each year submit commentary on the Council plan and bring before the Council our concerns for the elderly when appropriate .

Source : Statistics New Zealand .

Unfortunately most New Zealanders know more about the myths of aging and the negative stereotypes of older people , than the reality .
Here are some facts :

• The number of older people in New Zealand more than doubled between 1951 and 1996
• In 1998 , 12% of the new Zealand population was aged 65 years and over .
  • 3.9% were Maori ;
  • 1.5% were pacific Islands people ; and
  • 1.3% were Asian New Zealanders .
• There were 438,700 people aged 65 and over resident in 1998 and of these
  • 57% were aged 65 to 74 ;
  • 33% were aged 75-84 ; and
  • 10% were aged 85 years and over .
• By the year 2031 number of people aged over 65 is expected to reach 959,000 or 21% of population - people aged 85 and over will grow to 22.3% by 2051.
• There are expected to be 20 older persons for every 100 aged 16 to 64 by the year 2011 and 36 per 100 by year 2031.

• Between 1956 and 1996 an increase in life expectancy of around 6 years for males and 7 years for females .
• In 1996 a newborn female could expect to live 79.6 years and a newborn male 74.3 years .

• 93% of older people live independently at home ; only 7% live in a rest home or long term geriatric care .
• In 1996 , almost 1 in 3 older people lived alone
• Older people are more likely than any other age group to be married or widowed , and least likely to be divorced or living in a de facto arrangement.

• About 150,000 older people are dependent solely on the New Zealand Superannuation .
• Almost 50% of older people received a gross income of less than $10,500 .

• Income from investments on average amounts to 18% of total gross income of older people

Need for services :

• Disability increases with age , with most over 75 years experiencing some disability .
• About 1 in 5 people aged 80 and over have a severe disability such as blindness , deafness etc..
• Two thirds of unpaid care givers are women and half of these are over 60 years of age .