In a world that is getting increasingly obsessed with earning and purchasing power, advancing age is fast becoming a liability. A UN study has found that a chunk of the world's poor are advanced in age and they suffer discrimination in several forms.

The UN has called it a grave violation of human rights.

“The single most pressing human rights challenge for older persons is poverty. Homelessness, malnutrition, unattended chronic diseases, lack of access to safe drinking water and sanitation, unaffordable medicines and treatment, and income insecurity are just a few of the most critical human rights issues that a large number of older persons confront on a daily basis,” said the preliminary findings of the study.

The number of persons aged 60 and more is rising — anticipated to rise from its current 740 million to reach 1 billion by the end of 2020. The findings also say that the older persons suffer discrimination based on socio-economic status, ethnicity, or health. “Estimations point to as many as 80 per cent of older people not covered by social security, suggesting that a disturbing number of around 607 million people aged 60 or older lack income security,” the findings highlight.

“Chronic poverty in old age impacts on a number of human rights and is present in both developed and developing economies,” UN says.

Two-thirds of the world’s elderly live in low-and middle-income countries and this proportion will rise to 80 percent by 2050, according to the estimates.

The open-ended working group was established by the general assembly in December 2010 for the purpose of strengthening the protection of the human rights of older persons. In August 2012, the group will hold its third working session to provide a new hope for the protection of older persons.

Read the findings