Our fast growing ageing population heralds an unprecedented social and economic challenge. This initiative aims is to highlight the challenges that lie ahead, capture and disseminate good practice and encourage the wider community to to play an part in ensuring we can all “Age with Pride”.
The facts
• By 2040, the number of people over 64 in Britain is expected to grow from 9.5 million to 15 million. In 2000 there were 11.2 million people under the age of 15 in the UK. By 2040, this will have decreased to 8.7 million.
• In 1999 the working population amounted to 47.8% of the total UK population. By 2030 it will be 44.5%. This could mean a shortfall of two million workers.
• There are currently 11 million people in the UK between 45 and 60, the so-called ‘baby boomers’. They own 70% of the nation’s wealth. In 20 years’ time they could own 85-90% of disposable income in the UK.
• About half of spending on hospital and community health services in Britain is for people over 65.
• Figures for the number of dependent older people in England are projected to grow from 2.5 million in 2001 to just over four million in 2031 – an increase of 57%.
• When pensions were introduced in the early 1900s there were 22 people of working age in Britain for every retired person. In 2024 there will be less than three.
• Over 50s buy 80% of all top of the range cars, 50% of skincare products, 80% of leisure cruises.
• Over the last two decades, consumption by Europe’s over 50s has risen three times as fast as that of the rest of the population.
• British State pensions as a percentage of wages are the lowest of all of the G7 countries.
• People aged 60 and over already outnumber children under 16 in the UK for the first time.
Formed in loving memory of Cynthia Leonard MBE who gave a life time to helping others before her death in 2015 aged 94 years, this initiative will be launched in the Borough of Solihull where it will be trialled for 12 months with the aspiration to extend it, firstly within the West Midlands Combined authority and ultimately throughout the United Kingdom.
The objectives fir Age with Pride includes:
• Highlighting the needs of an ageing pupation
• Driving up the quality of service for care within propels homes and ion the residential care sector
• Promoting good practice
• Encouraging neighbours and friends befriend the elderly in their community
• Signposting the excellent services that already in existence
There is no intention to reinvent the wheel but instead develop a very fragmented approach to elderly care services into a more cohesive and an accessible offer which adds value to the lives of those in their later years of life.
We aim to work closely with National and Local Government, established charities and relevant local stakeholders to promote joined-up thinking that enhances the quality of life for our aging population.
With demands for service increasing and Local Authorities under severe financial, constraints we are in danger of experiencing the perfect storm. We strongly believe that we all deserve the chance to “Age with Pride” and that by engaging the community as whole we can help to create culture of Collective Responsilpbity for the great good of all who live in Great Britain
Mike Leonard