UK | Ageism is still rife across the United Kingdom, according to a recent report by Age UK, which has explored common themes of discrimination against seniors.
Age UK’s recent report has spelled out the reality of ageism in society and what it means to be an older person living in it. In doing so, it confounded some of the outdated myths and stereotypes that the Charity said often held seniors back from making the most of both their later lives and the asset that is the older population.
The data-rich report, “Why we want to change how we age,” was interactive and demonstrated how quickly the public was ageing as a society. However, Age UK pointed out that society frequently seemed in denial of this fact, with successive governments unwilling to make the necessary changes in response, instead choosing to “kick the can down the road.”
The Charity launched an ambitious new five-year strategy following extensive consultation with older people, the Age UK network, and many others. Central to this strategy were goals around transforming public attitudes toward ageing and older people, supporting older people to access the health and care they needed, and tackling poverty and inequalities.
For example, only recently had the Government and the NHS begun a serious effort to consider how our health and social care system needed to adapt to help older people stay fit and well in their own homes longer, avoiding hospital admissions wherever possible. Yet the trend toward a significantly older population had been underway for more than a generation. The Charity stated that the slow response meant there was now a lot of catching up to do.
The Charity also pointed out the irony that, while the population was rapidly ageing, ageism remained rampant. Shockingly, a third of people aged over 65 and nearly a quarter of people aged 50 to 64 reported experiencing ageism. This equated to 6.1 million people aged over 50 stated they had endured treatment ranging from disrespect to threats.
For some, ageism combined with other forms of discrimination that held them back in later life: one in six women aged over 50 reported discrimination due to their sex, and over half of people aged over 50 from minoritised communities reported discrimination due to race or religion.
Age UK’s report also showed how far public perceptions were from the reality regarding the affluence of today’s older population. Significant reductions in pensioner poverty up to the early 2010s gave way to a slow increase, despite policies like the pensions triple lock, resulting in 1.9 million pensioners now living in poverty. While some pensioners were well-off, many struggled. Large inequalities in pensioner incomes meant that only a minority had moderate or comfortable incomes (17 percent, or 2.1 million), while most pensioners lived on minimum incomes or in poverty (82 percent, or 9.7 million).
Age UK believed that, as a country, the UK had not fully realised the potential of the older population as a great national asset. It was estimated that by 2040, more than 40 percent of the population would be over 50, and more than five million people would be aged over 80. Sadly, the infrastructure and services required to keep up with these growing numbers were still lacking.
The analysis and other work Age UK conducted in developing its new strategy led the Charity to conclude that not only was ageism widespread, but many were also reluctant to consider the realities of getting older in their own lives. The opportunity to take actions earlier—especially during mid-life—that could increase the chances of a fulfilling later life were sometimes missed due to the barriers imposed by society or by ourselves. This sometimes led people to begin their later lives with less resilience than they might otherwise have.
In addition to the ageism experienced by millions of older people, the report also highlighted a wider range of challenges many faced: loneliness, poor health, unmet care needs, and poverty were common experiences, with many facing at least one of these challenges.
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