Ageing Society Must Spur Policy Changes That Support Older People, Says Help The Aged, UK

Main Category: Seniors / Aging
Article Date: 26 Aug 2008 - 2:00 PDT

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Responding to the news that the latest population statistics show that the over 60's now outnumber the under 18's, Mervyn Kohler, Special Adviser at Help the Aged comments:

"These new figures should be a cause for celebration. Policy makers and others must increasingly adjust their thinking to take stock of these clear changes in population. As Help the Aged has made clear through our own 'Just Equal Treatment' campaign, equality for older people matters now more than ever as these demographic changes become clearer to all.

"The key task for policy makers going forward is to ensure that older people can increasingly play an active role in our ageing society. The days of assuming older people are dependents must now come to an end. For example, there will need to be improved engagement with the need to develop housing supply that allows older people a genuine choice about how and where they live. Lifetime homes standards should be embraced as comprehensively as possible to help secure that choice.

"Additionally, the challenges of an ageing society means that the Government must now grasp the nettle of reform to the social care system with real urgency. The costs of allowing the social care system to continue to slowly wither on the vine would be enormous - these new statistics show in the starkest terms that the numbers of people who will require support in older age is set to grow ever larger. That surely means the time has now come to reform the system so that older people themselves are in control of their care packages.

"In employment, these figures clearly show the economic harm that will be caused to UK plc by continuing to exclude older people from the active workforce. Now is surely the time to consign the out-dated requirement for people to retire just because they reach a certain birthday to the dustbin. If an older person wishes to continue working, that should be something the Government and employers warmly welcome, instead of setting arbitrary ages for retirement.

"Changes to our population are inevitable over time. An ageing society is a fact of life which should be welcomed and embraced, not treated with concern. These new figures should give everyone pause for thought about our future."

Notes

This is the first year that there are more people in the UK aged 60 and over (13,262,200) than there are under 18 (13,111,000). Help the Aged is the charity fighting to free disadvantaged older people in the UK and overseas from poverty, isolation, neglect and ageism. It campaigns to raise public awareness of the issues affecting older people and to bring about policy change. The Charity delivers a range of services: information and advice, home support and community living, including international development work. These are supported by its paid-for services and fundraising activities - which aim to increase funding in the future to respond to the growing unmet needs of disadvantaged older people. Help the Aged also funds vital research into the health issues and experiences of older people to improve the quality of later life.

Help the Aged urgently needs donations and support to help it in the increasingly challenging fight to free disadvantaged older people from poverty, isolation and neglect. Visit http://www.helptheaged.org.uk.

Right care, Right deal is the new national campaign launched to build public awareness and support for the need for brave and innovative solutions for the social care system. With the Government indicating that social care is an urgent political priority, and in advance of the expected green paper later in 2008, the campaign combines three of the UK's largest charities working with and for older people and their families and carers, and will urge the government to renew its vision for the future of social care in England. Visit http://www.rightcare.org.uk The members of Right care, Right deal are Help the Aged, Counsel & Care and Carers UK.

For more information on Help the Aged campaigns, including the 'Just Equal Treatment' campaign, please visit http://www.helptheaged.org.uk/campaigns.

Help the Aged