Page 14 - Contributed Paper Session (CPS) - Volume 1

CPS651 El Mostafa T.
increase in the total population and is growing at an unprecedented pace, and
this is due to the changes that currently characterize the Moroccan society.
The share of the people aged 60 years old and over is 9.6% now, but it was
8.1% in 2004. This corresponds to the numbers of 3,209,000 in 2014 and
2,376,000 in 2004, a relative increase of 35% during the census period.
The female proportion in the last census of the Moroccan population was
51% and 6 in 10 (59%) of seniors living in urban areas. By age, more than half
(55.4%) are aged under 70 years old, 28.0% from 70 to 79 years and 16.6%
aged 80 and over. Just over two-thirds of seniors (68.0%) are married (92.2%
men and 44.8% women) and nearly 27.7% are widowed (4.8% men and 49.6%
women).
Figure 2- Illustrated portrait of elderly According to sex, Area of residence and age groups

According to sex (%) Area of residence (%) According to age groups
(%)

Source: HCP RGPH 2014
In the same context, the lengthening of the average life induces
progressive enlargement of the top of the pyramid. But despite significant
progress in longevity in the general population, large disparities persist,
especially between urban and rural contexts.
Moreover, the spatial distribution of ageing in Morocco is illustrated as
follows: it’s more important in different regions Beni-Mellal-Khénifra (10.6%),
Oriental (10.3%) and Fez-Meknes (10, 2%), probably because of high
emigration. Yet, it’s lower in other regions as Eddakhla-Oued Ed-Dahab (3.5%)
and Laayoune-Sakia El Hamra (5.4%).

2. Illiteracy: A great vulnerability among the elderly
People aged 60 and over in 2014 were from the generations born before
the independence, during which, access to education was still a privilege only
for a minority, including the sons of notables and those of settlers (CERED
1995). Almost all people belonging to this age group could not access
education, and this explains the high rate of illiteracy among them (70.5%). In
rural areas, the rate is more prominent than in the urban areas with
respectively 92.0% and 74.2%. More than 94.5% of women cannot read or
write, against 69.6% of men.

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