How many older people are there in the uk

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Full access: To this and over 1 million additional datasets Save Time: Downloads allow integration with your project Valid data: Access to all sources and background information. Exclusive Corporate feature. Corporate Account. Social care can be provided in the home or in a residential setting and includes both paid formal care and care provided by family, friends and volunteers informal care.

Social care requirements also increase with age. One in five men and women aged between 75 and 84 years have at least some problems washing or dressing.

People aged 65 years and over on low incomes are more likely to need help with daily activities. Although those on low incomes are more likely to receive help than those on higher incomes, the gap between the need for help and receipt of help is widest for those on low incomes, at 23 percentage points, compared with 8 percentage points for those on the highest incomes.

Figure Gap in provision between receipt of and need for help with daily activities, by income bracket among those aged 65 years and over, , England Source: Health and Social Care Funding explained, The Health Foundation Download this image Figure Gap in provision between receipt of and need for help with daily activities, by income bracket among those aged 65 years and over, , England. While the need for social care services at older ages has increased as a consequence of increases in the number of older people, gross real-terms spending on adult social care by local authorities has been steadily declining in recent years 1 while the number of older people receiving publicly-funded social care has declined 2.

The number of local authority adult social services jobs, particularly direct care jobs, has also declined 4. These patterns suggest an increase in private provision of formal social care. Download this chart Figure Change in gross current expenditure on adult social care by local authorities in cash and real terms, to and to inclusive, England Image. While there has been an increase in the number of domiciliary home care agencies Figure 38 , the number of people receiving local authority or Health and Social Care Trust HSCT funded home care has decreased Figure These figures relate to people receiving domiciliary care of all ages, however, the majority of these are aged 65 years and over.

Looking at types of residential care, the number of nursing home beds has increased since , however, the number of residential home beds has decreased, resulting in the same overall number of beds available today Figure With an ageing population, this means a higher overall ratio of older people to care home beds although the situation will vary locally. Download this image Figure Adult social care market trends, to , England. Any decline in the accessibility of formal social care increases the need for informal social care and it is often adult children and most often daughters who provide this to an elderly parent Figure These women are likely to be aged in their 50s and 60s 6.

With the trends towards having children later and increased childlessness 7 coupled with changes in State Pension age SPA necessitating women to work to later ages, there could be an impact on the availability of informal social care provision in the future, putting further pressure on formal social care services.

Women are more likely to provide informal care than men up to and including the 75 to 84 age group, while for the 85 and over age group this is reversed Figure This may reflect the fact that women aged 85 years and over are more likely to be widowed than men of this age group and are therefore less likely to have the opportunity to care for their spouse than men.

Download this chart Figure Percentage of people providing informal care by age and sex, to , UK Image. Unpaid caring is not without a cost. This in turn will add to healthcare demand. There is an interplay between health and social care demand both formal and informal.

Health care and social care are also linked by transfers of patients between these services. Delayed transfers of care occur when a patient is medically ready to depart from their current care setting but is unable to do so because of non-clinical reasons.

A higher proportion of delays were attributable to the NHS than to social services in to Childbearing for women born in different years, England and Wales: , Office for National Statistics. Full story: The gender gap in unpaid care provision: is there an impact on health and economic position? Office for National Statistics. In terms of personal well-being life satisfaction; how worthwhile life is; and happiness levels vary across different ages.

Ratings of personal well-being are lowest around mid-life but then start to rise around ages 60 to 64 years, peaking between the mids and mids before starting to decrease with age. It seems feasible that the reported higher levels of well-being from the mid- to lates reflect the life stage change from working life to retirement and the decreases in well-being at the oldest ages reflect declines in health and increased risk of widowhood. How socially connected people feel is a factor in quality of life and living alone is a risk factor for social isolation.

Older people are more likely to live alone than younger people and older women are more likely to live alone than older men, but with a small decrease for women over time Figures 43 and Older women are more likely to live alone than men mainly because they tend to marry men who are older than them 1 and women have longer life expectancies than men, so they are more likely to be widowed.

While divorce rates at ages 70 years and over have fluctuated slightly, marriage rates at these ages have increased in recent years, with the majority of these marriages being remarriages 2. Older people arguably experience more barriers to feeling connected to the world in which they live than younger people, potentially increasing their sense of isolation. Older people are more likely to have difficulties accessing services such as General Practitioners GPs , hospitals, banks or post offices, particularly if they are reliant on public transport 3.

Distances to these services may have increased with the closure of local facilities Figure Additionally, many services have moved online and older people, particularly the very old, are much less likely to use the internet than younger people.

However, in recent years, there are signs of this changing. More older people are becoming digitally literate, with the percentage of those aged 75 years and over who report using the internet increasing year-on-year.

Figure Proportion of adults aged 45 years and over who used the internet in the last three months, to , UK Source: Internet users, , UK. Digital exclusion among older people may become less of an issue in the future as those who have used the internet in their working and social lives continue to do so as they reach older ages; however, given the pace of technological advances it may still be the case that older people, particularly the very old who are most vulnerable to cognitive decline, experience some degree of digital exclusion.

While less likely to be socially connected online 4 , older people are more engaged with their communities, with those aged 65 years and over more likely to say they feel they belong to their local area, regularly stop and talk with people in their neighbourhoods, to trust their neighbours and be willing to help them than younger age groups Figure Figure Proportion of people who feel people in their local area can be trusted; are willing to help their neighbours; feel they belong to their local area and regularly stop and talk to people in their neighbourhood, by age, to , UK Source: Inequalities in Social Capital by Age and Sex, Office for National Statistics, July data from Understanding Society Download this chart Figure Proportion of people who feel people in their local area can be trusted; are willing to help their neighbours; feel they belong to their local area and regularly stop and talk to people in their neighbourhood, by age, to , UK Image.

However, older people are more fearful about walking alone after dark than younger people, particularly at the oldest ages 5 , which in the winter, when it gets dark by 4pm, may increase feelings of isolation.

This could be because of fear of falling, mobility limitations, uneven pavements, poor street lighting and a fear of crime. Population estimates by marital status and living arrangements, England and Wales: to Office for National Statistics. Older people have a disproportionately high perception of their risk of crime compared with how often they are victims Figure 48 , with older people being less likely to be a victim of crime than the population as a whole.

However, for some types of crime, older people are more likely to be targeted because of their perceived vulnerability, for instance, distraction burglary, where an offender gains entry to a house under false pretences to commit theft, and some types of fraud, particularly those where the victim is tricked into transferring money under false pretences Figure Figure Proportion who have been victim of crime and their perception of likelihood of being a victim, by age group, year ending March , England and Wales Source: Crime in England and Wales: Annual Trend and Demographic tables and Annual supplementary tables, Office for National Statistics Download this chart Figure Proportion who have been victim of crime and their perception of likelihood of being a victim, by age group, year ending March , England and Wales Image.

Figure Prevalence of crime by selected crime type and age group, , England and Wales Source: Crime Survey for England and Wales, , Office for National Statistics Notes: Burglary, vehicle related theft and criminal damage and arson refer to the age of the household reference person. Download this chart Figure Prevalence of crime by selected crime type and age group, , England and Wales Image. In considering the challenges of an ageing population it is important not to consider older people as a group who are all very similar.

They are diverse in terms of age year-olds will have very different requirements to year-olds , life stage working or retired , health status, income and wealth, marital status and living arrangements. This could have implications for local cultural needs, language barriers, health and well-being. Figure UK residents not born in the UK, by age and country of birth, Source: UK population by country of birth and nationality grouping, by sex and age: , Office for National Statistics Download this image Figure UK residents not born in the UK, by age and country of birth, Another important consideration is that the lives of older people today have been influenced by the choices, behaviours and experiences of their earlier lives.

In thinking about evidence that will inform effective policy interventions to meet the challenges of a continuing ageing population, it is important that we take a life course approach and identify the early- and mid-life factors that have most impact on later lives. This article draws upon evidence shown in the linked slide pack , which references a number of different sources:.

British Journal of General Practice. Department for Transport, National Travel Survey. Eurofound, European Quality of Life Survey. Chandler and G.

Office for Budget Responsibility, Fiscal sustainability report, January Office for National Statistics, based subnational population projections for England. Office for National Statistics, based UK national population projections. Office for National Statistics, Breakdown of total household wealth and its components by age band.

Office for National Statistics, Childbearing for women born in different years, England and Wales: Office for National Statistics, Expectation of life, principal projection, based. Office for National Statistics, Expenditure on healthcare. Office for National Statistics, Families and households. Office for National Statistics, Full story: The gender gap in unpaid care provision: is there an impact on health and economic position?

Office for National Statistics, Household disposable income and inequality in the UK: financial year ending Office for National Statistics, How is the welfare budget spent? Office for National Statistics, Inequalities in social capital by age and sex, July Office for National Statistics, Internet access - households and individuals: Office for National Statistics, Internet users.

Older people. Office for National Statistics, Past and projected data from the period and cohort life tables, based, UK: to Office for National Statistics, Population estimates by marital status.

Office for National Statistics, UK population by country of birth and nationality grouping, by sex and age: Resolution Foundation, Creative Commons Licence. Resolution Foundation, Home ownership in the UK. Welsh Government, Local authority population projections for Wales based : Principal projection. Tell us whether you accept cookies We would like to use cookies to collect information about how you use ons. Accept all cookies. Set cookie preferences.

Home People, population and community Births, deaths and marriages Ageing Living longer. Living longer: how our population is changing and why it matters Overview of population ageing in the UK and some of the implications for the economy, public services, society and the individual.

This is not the latest release. View latest release. Contact: Angele Storey Release date: 13 August Table of contents Introduction How is the UK population changing? How do changes in the UK population compare with the rest of the world? What has caused population ageing? What are the implications of an ageing population? How many older people work and has this changed?

How do incomes of older people compare with younger ages? What does an ageing population mean for public spending? What are the implications of living longer for services? Health does decline as people age, but many older people remain healthy and active long into their older age. Age UK regularly updates a factsheet with considerable detail about later life in the UK. MHA is the largest UK charity care provider, delivering a range of high-quality services to more than 18, older people:.

Our services are provided thanks to 7, dedicated staff and supported by more than 4, volunteers. MHA Communities members are the most diverse group of older people we serve, as many join the groups as volunteers and then gradually begin to receive services as they age. Just over three-quarters of members are female, just over half live alone.

Their ages range from 50 to , with the average age being Our Retirement Living residents are slightly older: their average age is 82 and two-thirds are aged over Just under a quarter of our care home residents are male, and this proportion is increasing annually. They are the oldest group we serve: their average age is 87, and two-thirds are aged over We use cookies to personalise content and analyse how you use our site; this helps us to provide you with the best possible experience and tailor our marketing.

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