Building a Society for All Ages is part of wider work across government to make the most of the opportunities that demographic change presents. This document provides a list of other documents available across government that relate to the ageing society.
This report provides a segmentation of the over 50s population based on views, needs, concerns and attitudes. The segmentation was conducted by Age Concern Research Services and is based on an analysis of the Age Concern ‘Lifestage’ survey data. The report explores the barriers and opportunities that might exist for specific groups in the older population across 5 ‘domains’: making a contribution, material wellbeing, health, home and neighbourhood and independent living. In addition, it looks at a sixth ‘general’ domain which embraces a number of factors around life, attitudes to age and ageing, demography, connection, loneliness and technology. Through this segmentation, the report provides some useful insights into understanding the priorities, concerns and attitudes of a large and diverse proportion of the population.
This report investigates the economic challenges of an ageing population as the UK enters a demographic crossroad. It estimates the potential downside of getting outcomes ‘wrong’ i.e. doing nothing based on current trajectories, but it also estimates the potential economic upside of getting outcomes ‘right’. Using a simple economic model the report shows that a passive ageing scenario based on current trends could bring economic problems in terms of higher taxes and falling standards of living, especially if long-term increases in wage productivity are not maintained. Alternatively, the report finds that if increases in healthy life expectancy and working life expectancy are able to keep pace with life expectancy (the active ageing scenario), the future looks brighter. Quantified estimates of the difference this could make are given in the report. However, the analysis begs the question of what actions need to be followed in order to ensure that this happens.
Overall, the findings indicate the need for greater linkages between policies so that changes in longevity can be matched by changes in other variables such as participation rates, pension age and healthy life expectancy.
Building a Society for All Ages has been influenced through a discussion paper and face to face dialogue with members of the public. Preparing for our Ageing Society summarises comments and the Government’s response.
Working Together for Older People in Rural Areas is the final report of a joint project between the Social Exclusion Task Force and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. This report examines evidence on the social exclusion experienced by older people in rural areas and identifies examples of innovative service delivery that can make a real difference in these areas. As a result of this study, a number of key practical policy actions have been integrated into the government’s Ageing Strategy ‘Building a Society for all Ages’.
Alan Walker is professor of social policy and social gerontology at the University of Sheffield. In this article he discusses some of the opportunities and challenges associated with an ageing population.
