Tech fails to fill silence for the elderly; Report shows how digital age has spawned new challenges

NEW DELHI: Neelam Maini is 70 and did not own a mobile phone till she retired from a govt job in 2015. The smartphone came into her life as a gift from her children, who also became her mentors, introducing her to internet banking and the world of social media and WhatsApp.Ten years on, as vice-president of Sant Nagar Senior Citizens’ Welfare Association that has 400 members on a WhatsApp group, Maini has found that even as the mobile phone has opened a world of communication, helping bridge the generational digital divide, it has also created a deeper problem for many urban elderly people.With the younger generation mostly hooked to their devices — laptops and phones— and social media, more and more elderly people are feeling lonely as their children and grandchildren have little time for deeper engagement with them.This clearly comes through in a survey by HelpAge India released on Friday, ahead of World Elder Abuse Awareness Day on June 15. It reveals that a large number of senior citizens already struggling with loneliness and challenges of ageing now also have to contend with problems of the digital age.

The survey, which focused on “intergenerational dynamics and perceptions on ageing”, draws on the experiences of 5,798 respondents that included youth and elderly people from 10 cities — Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Kanpur, Nagpur and Madurai.

“Everyone is on the phone these days, even at the dining table, including elders. But parents feel hurt when they cannot have a meaningful conversation with children and grandchildren. At times, their family members have time to chat with them only on phone while on the way to work,” Maini told TOI , sharing this as one of the experiences of seniors, who yearn for face-to-face conversations with their kin.“Children don’t sit and talk anymore.

They are always on their phones,” complained a senior citizen from Kolkata. “They don’t always listen, but when do they talk to us, it makes the day go better,” said an elderly person from Kanpur. “I just stay silent these days. If we speak, they say we’re complaining again,” bemoaned a senior from Madurai.The problem is not just inter-generational. “We used to gossip with friends in the past. Now we scroll silently. Even loneliness has gone digital,” said another senior from Kolkata.The findings gain significance against the backdrop of India’s population profile: as of 2025, approximately 12% of the Indian population is aged 60 and above, with the figure projected to rise to 19% by 2050. At the same time, India is home to the world’s largest youth population, with over 365 million individuals aged 15–29 years.