Two million elderly needing care will be isolated, warns new report

A new report has revealed that two million elderly people face living alone without any help from relatives within 20 years.

A leading think tank revealed that many people face a lonely old age because their children live too far away or are too busy to help out.

As early as 2017 there will be more people needing help than adult children who are able to provide it, according to the Institute of Public Policy Research.

And the number will keep on growing until by 2030 there will be two million people aged over 65 who cannot call on their children if they suddenly start needing help with tasks such as shopping, cooking and cleaning, say, the report.

Although relatives and friends provide £55 billion a year of unpaid informal care in this country, The Generation Strain report says many families will struggle to cope in future as the number of people aged over 85 grows.

This is the age group most likely to need care but councils only give help with basic tasks such as washing and dressing when the situation reaches a critical stage and the cost of professional home and residential care is growing.

The latest institute’s report from the Condition of Britain project on social policy found that by 2032, 1.1 million older people in England will need care from their families – an increase of 60 per cent.

But as families become smaller and more fragmented, the number of people able to care will only increase by 20 per cent, leaving an estimated 230,000 older people needing 20 hours of help without family support. And the situation could be even bleaker than they predict because the report says the number of people aged 65 and over without children to care for them if needed is set to double and reach two million people by 2030.

According to the report families are not ducking out of their responsibilities and the intensive care provided by spouses and partners is expected to increase by 90 per cent over the next 15 years.

Lower levels of employment for women with children and those over 50 in the UK than other countries suggest the problem is with a lack of affordable, flexible and good quality formal care, says the report.

Authors argue that it is difficult to see how families can do any more and argues that the UK should follow Germany, Japan and Australia in finding alternative ways to fill this gap.

This includes building intergenerational homes, creating new neighbourhood networks for people of all ages, investing in health and community care and recruiting volunteers to befriend dementia sufferers.

The authors also want stronger employment rights for carers.

Clare McNeil, IPPR senior research fellow, said: “The supply of unpaid care to older people with support needs by their adult children will not keep pace with future demand.

“Thousands of people in their 60s and 70s today could be left to cope on their own when they need care in the future, with overstretched services unable to make up the shortfall.

“Britain needs to build new community institutions capable of sustaining us through the changes ahead and to adapt the social structures already in place, such as family and care, public services, the workplace and neighbourhoods.”

To download the report, visit:
http://www.ippr.org/publication/55/12158/the-generation-strain-collective-solutions-to-care-in-an-ageing-society