In our new strategy we're determined to build on existing work and focus further on how we can improve later lives.
Context: The State of Ageing in England is getting worse
- There are almost 11 million people aged 65 and over, and in ten years’ time this will have increased to 13 million people. That’s 22% of the population.
- Life expectancy and the number of years people can expect to spend without disabling health conditions are falling.
- About 2 million people of state pension age are currently living in poverty. Inequalities are stark.
- In the most affluent areas men can expect to live almost 18 years longer – and women, 16 years longer without a disabling condition than those in the poorest areas. In the poorest areas, men can expect only to live to 53 and women to 51 before the onset of a disabling condition.
- 2 million homes headed by someone aged 55 or over are in a condition that endanger the health or wellbeing of their occupants.
- At 71%, the employment rate of people aged 50-64 is well below that of people aged 35-49 (86%) showing that many people have stopped working before they reach state pension age. Older workers who would like to get back into work may struggle to do so, as people aged 50 and over who are unemployed are twice as likely as the youngest adults to be long-term unemployed.
- Older people from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds are at a particular disadvantage, with the health of some ethnic minority groups in the UK equivalent to that of White people at least 20 years older than them.
- 1 in 3 people in the UK experience age-based discrimination or prejudice.
What does the Centre for Ageing Better want to achieve?
We aim to make a significant contribution to ensuring that, in later life, more people:
- Experience good health
- Are treated fairly and with respect
- Experience financial security
In order to achieve these outcomes we have chosen three areas of activities:
- Age-friendly Movement and tackling ageism – we will strive to make ageism everyone’s business and build an age-friendly movement across the country that will change the way people think, feel and act when it comes to ageing.
- Age-friendly Homes – we will work to ensure everyone can live in accessible and healthy homes in intergenerational communities.
- Age-friendly Employment – we will influence policy and practice so that everyone has access to good jobs that are right for them, through their 50s and 60s.
We take a preventative approach focusing on those approaching later life so that by the time people reach 65 they are better equipped, enabled and supported to enjoy older age.
We will create change in behaviours, attitudes, policy and practice by:
- Campaigning and influencing
- Developing new ideas for policy and practice and testing them out
- Identifying effective practice and innovation and supporting widespread uptake
We will tackle ageism and take action to reduce the inequalities people experience as they grow older.
