As an hour-long exercise class in Cromer’s parish hall concludes with a triumphant ribbon routine, irrepressible instructor Annamarie Stern addresses the group. “Anyone got a knot?” One or two raise their hands before another bemused contestant discovers she’s managed to twist two knots in her ribbon. “How did this happen?!” she is laughing.
The class of 40, predominantly women over 65 – the oldest, Ann, 84, completed the entire routine – is a picture of health in old age. Some choose to exercise from a chair during floor work, but everyone has put their all into the class. “Their attitude is amazing,” says Stern, who calls her class the “crème de la crème” of the North Norfolk city’s senior population.
It’s no surprise that Stern’s classes are in demand, and not just because of her infectious enthusiasm. One in three people in North Norfolk is now aged 65 or over, making it the oldest place in England and Wales in terms of the proportion of people of pensionable age.
Its leading status was revealed in new census data, underscoring what statisticians, economists and politicians have known for years: that Britain is ageing. There are now more people aged 65 and over than children under 15 in England and Wales. The number of people aged over 64 has increased by 20% in the last decade in England and Wales to 11.1 million people. Almost every fifth person is over the age of 65.
The far-reaching consequences of this demographic revolution can hardly be overstated. From the Tory pressure on Boris Johnson over tax and spending to the ambulance waiting time crisis, so many of the pressing issues of the day are influenced by the large group of people who have made their way into old age.
Despite years of planning, however, many experts question whether the country has properly prepared for the economic, cultural and political changes it entails.
In England and Wales, there are more people aged 65 and over than children under 15. Photo: WPA/Getty Images
The impact is uneven both geographically and economically. Several of the women in Stern’s fitness class tell a similar story of holidaying in seaside Cromer before retiring there. The fact that so many people have made this decision has advantages. Women deploy a full social calendar. Monday, singing. Wednesday, Art. Friday night, drinks on the pier. The local WI has a waiting list.
Yet they are also aware that as fit, able-bodied people with the means to support themselves, they are the lucky ones. “I’m perfectly fine, financially,” says Marg Hooper, 69. “But, my God, I feel for those who aren’t. It’s difficult in this position.”
Sue Sansby, 75, agrees. “It’s meant for retirees here. And we cannot compare ourselves to a 75-year-old man who lives in a high-rise building. If you are retired and have a private pension, you are probably fine. Not everyone is in that position.”
Although Cromer has developed a strong community, the concentration of older people highlights the pressures on health, housing and social care seen nationally. “North Norfolk is a wonderful place to live and people are moving here for that reason,” said Tim Adams, leader of North Norfolk District Council. “This trend will only continue for years. I would question whether we have prepared enough for this. I know of many households that now have unmet social care needs. This leads them to rely on charities, neighbors and family members. It puts a lot of strain on people. But people who work in social care also need housing. That’s another area where we really haven’t done enough.”
Aidan Young of the Center for Better Aging described the census data as another wake-up call showing the urgent need to change attitudes to work, reach older people in poverty, create homes that fit them – and addressing widespread ageism, which she says remains firmly in place. “Despite the fact that we know this is happening, do we understand it correctly? No, we definitely don’t think so,” she said.
Great Britain lost a chance to be ahead. As Prime Minister, David Cameron ordered a major inquiry into all the impacts and consequences of Britain’s ageing. Backed by Cameron, his political guru Oliver Letwin and then cabinet secretary Jeremy Heywood, the Future of an Aging report made wide-ranging recommendations on work, training, housing, health, transport, technology and care. There was just one problem: it was published weeks after the 2016 EU referendum, and Whitehall has been grappling with crises ever since.
This large cohort who hung out in Carnaby St in the 1960s and rebelled against the Vietnam War are now driving up health and pension costs David Willetts
“Potentially, before Brexit, we would have done quite well,” said Sarah Harper, professor of gerontology at the University of Oxford, who chaired the report’s expert panel. “I think we would have been one of the leading parties in resolving this. That has obviously passed and now there are huge problems. The fact that we can’t even sort out health and social care shows that we’ve fallen down the league in our ability to deal with it.’
She added that Britain’s aging process is not just about longer lives, but also a relative decline in younger workers. Birth rates are falling and immigration is falling. “We knew we were going to be in a very tight job market — that’s not a surprise,” she said. “Brexit and the pandemic have made it much worse for us.”
The consequences are being felt acutely in Westminster. The Prime Minister, whose premiership is already under siege, has been attacked by hard-line Tory MPs over the size of the state and refused to heed their calls for tax cuts. However, David Willetts, a Tory peer who has studied demographic pressure for years, says the impact of our aging population has driven policy. “In 2017 we saw more people celebrate their 70th birthday than ever before in British history,” he said.
“That large cohort that hung out in Carnaby Street in the 1960s and rioted in Grosvenor Square against the Vietnam War are now all collecting their pensions and increasing health and pension costs, even before you add the increase in life expectancy.
“Margaret Thatcher worked in an environment where there were relatively few people reaching pension age. We had a mass of workers with relatively few children and relatively few old people. And it’s a very different environment for controlling public spending than we have today.
Exercise class at Cromer Parish Hall, North Norfolk. Photo: Fabio De Paola/The Observer
With larger numbers, the divide between the haves and the have-nots in later life is ever-widening. Willetts thinks something has to give. He believes the “triple lock”, where the state pension increases by inflation, earnings or 2.5% – whichever is the highest – is an “unsustainable ratchet pushing down pension incomes”.
He adds that the pension age may need to be raised again, a matter which is being investigated by an independent review by the Department for Work and Pensions. He believes that these older people, who are now struggling to find work and support themselves, should be “a priority for targeted public spending, not ordinary pensioners”.
Given the labor shortages emerging in the post-Brexit economy and the pandemic, it seems extraordinary that older workers should be struggling to find work. Yet something strange is happening at work. In the past two years, the number of economically inactive people aged 50-64 has increased by 250,000 – a major reversal of the trend of the past decade. Covid appears to have disproportionately affected older workers, but many experts believe persistent ageism also persists. Not enough employers have adjusted to the reality that more older workers are both needed and able to do the job, they say.
Andy Briggs, chief executive of pensions company Phoenix Group and the government’s “business champion” for an aging society and older workers, pointed to research showing that applications from older workers have a much lower chance of leading to an interview. than younger applicants with similar job abilities.
He also said older workers were being cut out of jobs they could be doing, but added there was action the government could take. “One in four over 50s have significant care responsibilities for an elderly relative,” he said. “And yet the vast majority of businesses do not have any form of care policy. So, in the end, people more often find themselves faced with the choice “Should I take care of my elderly parents or should I work?” Because I can’t do both.”
He called on ministers to introduce five days of compulsory leave for carers, as promised in the Tory manifesto. The pledge was missing from the Queen’s Speech delivered in May.
Indeed, increasing life expectancy means that caring for grandchildren or parents – or both – is now a real problem for people in their late 50s, 60s and 70s. This weekend alone, Age UK is warning that 1.8 million older carers are now dangerously tired and lacking support as a result of the pandemic. More older carers said they found it more difficult to cope with daily activities such as getting out of bed or getting dressed. Greater access to breaks through respite care is an obvious answer to helping these older carers cope. Yet some of these services have been closed since the arrival of Covid.
For the growing number well past their retirement, Joan Bakewell, 89, a Labor peer, author and presenter, says voluntary groups and friendships are vitally important as council services have been cut in the years of austerity since 2010. “I belong to a book group and a movie club. This is extremely important and useful,” said…
Add Comment