Physical limitations prevent over-75s from leaving the house

On an average day in 2010, nearly half of over-75s were housebound. Physical limitations in particular prevented them from leaving the house. When they go outdoors, they are accompanied by another person, usually a driver, in nearly a quarter of cases. If they go out alone, they mostly go by bike or on foot.

Half of over-75s housebound

Approximately eight in ten people in the Netherlands left the house on an average day in 2010 to go to work, go shopping or visit friends or relatives versus more than one in two in the over-75 age bracket. Physical limitations force over-75s to stay at home in nearly 15 percent of cases. Weather conditions also play an important part in this respect. More than five times as many people over the age of 75 stayed at home in 2010 on account of the weather as in the age group under 75.

Reasons for staying at home by age 1)

One in four over-75s are accompanied when they go out

If over-75s leave the house, nearly a quarter of them are not alone. Older people are more often accompanied than younger people. In 22 percent of cases, 75 to 80-year-olds are accompanied versus nearly 27 percent of over-80s, but this difference is mainly found among women. Between the ages of 75 and 80, men and women were equally often accompanied, but in the over-80 age group women were more often accompanied than men. This is possibly due to the fact that women over the age of 80 tend to feel less healthy and safe. 

Outdoor mobility over-75s by age and gender

Usually by car

If over-75s go out, they go by car in nearly seven out of ten times and they are mostly sitting next to the driver. When going out alone, only 35 percent of people over the age of 75 travelled by car in 2010; they more often walked or cycled.

Outdoor mobility over-75s by means of transport

Ilona Bouhuijs and Marian Driessen