Senior Citizen is defined as any person aged sixty (60) years or over. (Source: Republic Act 9994, Section 3.A). Globally, older persons refer to those aged 60 years or over.

70 males per 100 females is recorded sex ratio among senior citizens

The household population of senior citizens in the city was 118,222 or 6.70 percent to the total household population. From this number, 48,855 or 41.32 percent were males; and 69,367 or 58.68 were females resulting to a sex ratio of 70 males per 100 females

Figure 1 shows the age-sex population highlighting the portion of senior citizens in the City of Manila as of the last census in 2015. Age-group 80 years old and over recorded a total share of 8.96 percent to the population of senior citizens where most females outnumbered males. The figure also depicts that females tend to live longer than males.
 

More than half of the population of senior citizens are still married

More than half of the population of senior citizens or 52.69 percent (62,297) were still in compact of marriage; while 31.87 percent (37,679) were already widowed.  Those singles or who were ever since unmarried were at 8.80 percent (10,403). Figure 2 shows the percentage distribution of senior citizens in the city by their marital status.

99.69 percent of the senior citizens are literate

A total of 117,855 or 99.69 percent of the population of senior citizens were literate or those who can read and write simple messages. The literacy rate among male senior citizens was recorded at 99.83; while, 99.59 was recorded among female citizens. Only 367 or 0.31 percent were recorded illiterates.

Most of the senior citizens are high school graduate or attained high school level

Among the senior citizens, 40.81 percent or 48,243 were high school graduate or attained high school level. Almost one-fourth, 23.30 percent (27,547), of them were graduate of elementary or attained elementary level. Meanwhile, 0.36 percent (426) senior citizens were recorded of no grade completion or those who have not attained at least basic level of education.
 

Six out of 10 senior citizens are declared as household head

The head of the household is an adult person, male or female, who is responsible for the organization and care of the household, or who is regarded as such by the members of the household. A total of 71,633 or 60.59 percent of the senior citizens were declared or regarded as household head. Among the household heads, 40,533 (56.58%) of them were males, while 31,100 (43.42%) were females.
 

460 senior citizens are regarded as domestic helpers

The Labor Code of the Philippines defines “domestic or household service” as a "service in the employer's home" that provides convenience and personal comfort to the employer. Domestic helpers include maids, cooks, yayas (nannies), drivers and all-around helpers. Based on the results of 2015 Census of Population (PopCen), in the City of Manila, there were 460 senior citizens (0.39%) were regarded as domestic helpers in a household.
 

1.09 percent of senior citizens are overseas filipino workers

A total of 1,292 senior citizens (1.09%) were overseas Filipino workers. A household member who is an overseas worker is one who is currently out of the country due to overseas employment. He/she may or may not have a specific work contract or may be presently at home on vacation but has an existing overseas employment to return to.
 

More than one-fourth of senior citizens are managers; more female managers than males

More than one-fourth or 10,429 of the senior citizens to total gainful workers of 38,381 in the city were working as managers. This was followed by the service and sales workers with 20.24 percent or a total of 7,768. The figure 4 shows the gender gap based on major classification of occupations that senior citizens have. The graph shows that the longer the line, the bigger the gap with respect to number of senior citizens by occupations. Moreover, it also revealed that most women were managers and service and sales workers and the gap of number of male and female senior citizen professionals was minimal. Meanwhile, on the occupations which need physical strength like plant and machine operators, male still dominate.
 

Nine out of ten senior citizens have ever had a copy of their birth certificate

From the results of 2015 PopCen, a total of 113,569 or 96.06 percent of senior citizens has ever had a copy of their birth certificate. While, 3.37 percent or 3,983 has never had a copy of their birth certificate; and 0.57 percent or 670 answered don’t know or not reported. This means that some senior citizens have never seen or handled a copy of their birth certificate. The purpose of collecting these data is to determine the extent of birth registration in the country. Low registration of births would prompt policy makers and program managers to devise measures to increase the level of birth registration.

(SGD.) Danilo R. Cubinar
Chief Statistical Specialist