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At work, people tend to notice men more than women. However, when they reach old age, men seem to vanish. There are very few old men at day care centres, club houses and arts and crafts programmes. Junior researcher Tiina Tambaum from the Estonian Institute for Population Studies asks the simple question – why?

This is a question that is not often asked. We tend to think that men live less and have worse health. In addition, people think that men do not care for activities outside their homes.

In Estonia, there are 83,000 men past the age of 65. This makes one man per two women (34 to 66). At the same time, in the younger groups (ages 65-74), the ratio is 39:61, meaning one man per 1.5 women. The largest difference comes at the 75+ age range, where the ratio is 28:72, or one man per 2.5 women. There are as many old men in Estonia as there are people in Pärnu town and county combined.

Once a man reaches his 65^th birthday, his life expectancy is 15 years. This is the same period a child in 1^st grade would reach their Bachelor’s degree.

Studies in gerontology show that health tends to deteriorate 5-7 years before death, which means that male pensioners have ten years of healthy active life ahead of them. The claim that men are weaker in health than women, has no scientific proof. The SHARE research shows that notions of frailness (falling; fear of falling; dizziness, fainting or loss of consciousness; fatigue) and depression (EURO-D) are far less common among men than women. At the same time, obesity is more common among women than men at this age.

The human being is a social creature. Men have the same social needs as women and they do not change once they retire. Staying home is a more difficult social change for men than women. Men are more concentrated on their work; their social network outside the office is a lot smaller than that of women. Men have also spent less time on hobbies and self-fulfilment that they could continue after retiring.

A research conducted among men in Tartu Parish showed that the change is harder on the men who live in apartments. Their boredom reaches its peak during the winter.

Two examples:

Man living in an apartment: “It’s actually very difficult. Men fade away because they lose their rhythm. That is when you start looking for new things to do.”

Man living in a house: “It’s a bit boring around here. You get a job for a few months and then have to look for another one. It’s better when I get to work in the garden – the days go by quicker.”

In English-speaking countries, the movement has become very popular. There, the non-working male population in a community meets up and does something active and productive in unison. The men have applied for funding to build or restore a common shed, garage or other working space. For example, Australia has 916 official Sheds (3.8 per 100,000 inhabitants), and Ireland has 227 (4,9 per 100,000). There is also an , which offers ideas and support for the men who are unable to leave their houses physically.

The problem, therefore, is not that there are no men or that men are not interested. The question here is if we see this situation as a problem. Estonian villages, hamlets and towns offer no opportunities, tasks and activities that would fit the interests and skills of old men.