The Ready for Ageing Alliance – a new charity sector coalition

We note and welcome a new coalition, The Ready for Ageing Alliance, formed to increase the pressure on Government and all political parties to face up to the major changes and challenges from our rapidly ageing society.

Like other commentators we wish it every good fortune but we have reservations. Some of those reservations have been adequately expressed elsewhere and we link you below to Dick Stroud’s excellent blog 50-Plus Marketing on the subject.

http://20plus30.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/ready-for-ageing-alliance-will-it-make.html

We have long been asking for some statesmanlike approach to the subject of growing older but have seen very little so far. Indeed only this week we have seen major press coverage devoted to the exceedingly trivial issue of who should or should not receive free bus passes and TV licences. This does no credit to the media nor to the politicians involved but does highlight the very poor level of debate currently taking place.

Although the participating bodies in this new alliance are all much esteemed they do, in my opinion, have a fatal weakness – they are mainly concerned with today’s existing old, not tomorrow’s. As such they do not feature all that highly in most people’s consciousness.

The real way to get people involved in ageing issues is to make today’s young realise that this is coming for them, like it or not, and any change now will be for their benefit. And if they want improvement they must take personal and collective responsibility for their futures. Therefore, I would argue for a somewhat different mix of pressure groups to extend the sphere of influence.

The power of the ballot box

Sometimes it is very easy to think that we are the only nation in the world suffering from the various dilemmas now confronting us, in terms of, for example; economic woes, an ageing population, pension and care costs, youth unemployment, obesity, drinking problems and healthy living in general. And this list is by no means exhaustive.

But these issues are global, affecting just about every developed nation and many lesser developed nations as well. And the ways in which other countries are attempting to grapple with the situation are as many and varied as there are nations. We should, therefore, look elsewhere and see whether we like the way things are going and whether they provide a good blueprint for us here.

One particularly pernicious avenue of discussion here, both in the media and amongst politicians (notably of the “two brain” variety), is to set “the young” versus “the old”, as though one camp can only gain if the other camp loses. This is no way to solve such problems, especially if it leads to the actual polarisation of society.

The following extract is taken from a recent report from DutchNews.nl concerning the political situation in Holland:

“Fears that pensioners are being hard hit by the government’s austerity measures continue to boost support for the 50Plus party, according to a new opinion poll.

The TNS-Nipo poll says the fledgling party would win 24 seats in the 150-seat parliament if there were a general election tomorrow. That would make it the second biggest party in parliament, behind the VVD Liberals on 28. The party debuted in parliament at the September general election and has two seats.

The Labour party (PvdA), which currently partners the VVD in the coalition government, would be third with 23. The Labour leader caused a stir earlier this week when he said the over-50s are the richest group in the country.

The TNS-Nipo poll puts the Socialists in fourth place on 19 seats and the anti-immigration PVV fifth with 16.”

Despite an attempt a few years ago to set up an “older persons” party in the UK (which appears to have sunk without trace) we must hope that British democracy is better than this. Just look above at who came fifth in the poll, only a few seats behind!

Dealing with the reality of living for a hundred years

A new report from Scottish Widows predicts that a third of babies born today will live to be 100 and, as a norm, will work until the age of 70. Girls are more likely to reach this age – 39 per cent – compared to boys (32 per cent).

There’s something of a fairy-tale quality about the phrase “living for a hundred years” and thinking about the implications shows that a good fairy with a magic wand might be required for ensuring a long and happy life for today’s babies who are going to experience such longevity.

The report anticipates that as people face the challenge of saving for their first home and paying off student loans (which at around £73,000 will take until average age 52), ‘an increasing proportion will either have no children or just one child’.  

They will also need to find money to save for a pension and to continue to work longer in some capacity in order to fund living comfortably for the longest anticipated retirements in history – up to three decades.

Naturally (as it comes from a financial products provider) the report’s main message is that these ‘new centenarians’ will need to start saving at the age of 25 to build up a decent pension to have any chance of being able to retire comfortably.

However, surely it is simplistic to think that this will be sufficient to deal with a change of such magnitude? It seems to me that innovation will be required in a number of areas, including:

·  Housing – in terms of both assisting younger people to get on the housing   ladder, and more flexible options for helping older people free up housing equity.

·  Education – a review of our current ‘university education at any cost’ culture and a greater emphasis on life-long learning

·  Working patterns – making part-time, flexible and contract roles throughout the career-span the norm, thereby enabling people to dip in and out of the workplace more easily – and to extend their working lives.

·  Spending patterns – a review of priorities e.g. although divorce rates remain high it is predicted that young centenarians will spend around £39,000 on their wedding (compared to their grandparents average of£4,400)!

· Attitudes to healthy living – to ensure that those later years are spent in some kind of good, or at least moderate, health.

Commenting on the report, leading economist and trend forecaster Steve Lucas of Development Economics suggests that today’s parents “should encourage their children to start understanding finance and stress the importance of saving from a young age”.

This sounds a worthy strategy but might it be undermined by the reality of today’s parents neither understanding financial matters sufficiently themselves, nor having the ability and/or will to save for their own old age?http://reference.scottishwidows.co.uk/docs/2012_11_new_centenarians.pdf

However, before anyone becomes too smug or complacent, other indications suggest that the pensions industry is already planning for anticipated life spans of 125 years!

Budget blues

It has always seemed to me a great pity that politicians and business leaders never seem to take the big and painful decisions at the right time – that is when times are good, rather than when times are bad and they are no longer in control of the process. Oh for a few farsighted statesmen rather than the short-termists we always seem to get, concerned only with their own immediate impact and survival.

And so it is now with the various measures being taken to deal with the issues surrounding a large and growing older population. The Budget just announced has come in for a lot of criticism, as they all do, in particular this time with regard to pensions and pensioners. But the concerns driving some of the current measures have been coming for decades and nobody was prepared to tackle them at the appropriate time. And so they have to be addressed now, at a time when any measure is going to be painful for someone, whether it is the young, the “squeezed middle” or the older population. In the end the pain will have to be shared around and we can only hope that such pain will, in the long run, be less here than in some other countries.

So let us stand back a moment and look at the bigger and longer term scenario, one that will quite definitely not go away of its own accord. There are certain things about matters related to demographics – they have the weight of numbers on their side and you can see them coming a long way off.

The first thing is that the population as a whole is living much longer than it used to. Living longer is generally a good thing, provided we can address the issues surrounding health, personal financial well-being, and a reason to get up in the morning. Living longer is something that will affect everyone, the young, the middle-aged and the elderly and so measures must be put in place to prepare everyone for later life, in an environment in which government funding is not a bottomless pit. After all, the money comes from us – we give with one hand we take with the other.

Therefore living longer (a good thing) implies working longer and/or saving more. And so state pension age will have to increase alongside increasing longevity, not only for financial reasons but for an individual’s feeling of value and worth and for the social interaction work brings. With this must come the ability to stay in work longer, in terms of health, the work environment itself and the right to continued employment.

And for those with some way to go to retirement, saving must be seen as a worthwhile venture. For some years there has been a powerful lobby suggesting there be an adequate universal pension for everyone, removing the excuse that saving is not worthwhile because with means testing later on you might as well spend it now rather than save it. This is being put in place. What we now need are some worthwhile savings mechanisms. They too, hopefully, are coming.

It is quite possible to argue about the fairness of the transition arrangements, for all sectors of the population not just pensioners, but directionally I believe that we are now beginning to see some progress.

 

 

 

 

The European Year of Active Ageing

In case you hadn’t yet noticed:-

“2012 is the (European Commission’s) European Year of Active Ageing and Solidarity between Generations. A chance for all of us to reflect on how Europeans are living longer and staying healthier than ever before  – and to realise the opportunities that represents.

Active ageing can give the baby-boom generation and tomorrow’s older adults the opportunity to:

     stay in the workforce and share their experience

     keep playing an active role in society

     live as healthy and fulfilling lives as possible.

It is also key to maintaining solidarity between generations in societies with rapidly increasing numbers of older people.”

This is how it is described on their website. For more see

http://europa.eu/ey2012/ey2012main.jsp?catId=971&langId=en

Last week, on 6 March, we attended the UK launch of this major initiative with many fine speakers and a TV link-up to the relevant EU Commissioner. Quite why the launch of “2012 as the year of” should take place in March I am not quite sure.

More from the website states:

“The challenge for politicians and stakeholders will be to improve opportunities for active ageing in general and for living independently, acting in areas as diverse as employment, health care, social services, adult learning, volunteering, housing, IT services or transport.

The European Year seeks to raise awareness of the issues and the best ways of dealing with them. But most of all it seeks to encourage all policymakers and stakeholders to set themselves goals and take action to meet them. 2012 should go beyond debating; it should start bringing tangible results.”

Unfortunately, a few things stand out.

There were very few politicians, policymakers or employers, as major stakeholders, in attendance. Furthermore, a number of the speakers complained of “pilotitis” or “projectitis” a phenomenon whereby things are started while money and enthusiasm exist, then fall by the wayside until they are eventually re-invented sometime later. And, the continuing problem of lack of clarity about the needs of different groups of older people was once again apparent. Without revisiting old ground, 50 year-olds are different to 80 year-olds!

Obviously it is early days in the year, well early-ish, so maybe more will emerge.

If you wish to “get involved” or would like to suggest appropriate initiatives, do check out their website.

Older workers – needed soon?

Are employers in danger of throwing out the baby (boomers) with the bathwater?

A recent (2010) report from Civic Ventures (which I’ve only just come across) seems to suggest that they may be. The report, “After the Recovery: Help Needed – The Coming Labor Shortage and How People in Encore Careers Can Help Solve It” suggests that in a comparatively short period of time employers will be having to consider how to make work attractive to older people in order to overcome skills shortages.

Its core premise is that by 2018, with no change in current labor force participation rates or immigration rates and an expected return to healthy economic growth, the US will have more jobs than people to fill them.

The report states, “In the current economy, there are so many unemployed people that younger workers seem to be competing with older workers for available jobs. If the economy recovers, as employment projections predict it will, this competition will all but disappear. Instead of workers jockeying for jobs… we may find that employers are forced to find ways to enhance their jobs to attract older workers to fill them.”

It continues: “Not only will there be jobs for these experienced workers to fill, but the nation will absolutely need older workers to step up and take them – to assure continued economic growth and to provide the critical social and government services on which we all depend.”

The report makes interesting reading in that if its predictions are realised, those in their fifties and early sixties who are currently being cast aside soon may be being courted back into work. Of course, this scenario is underpinned by lots of ifs and buts – not least of which is how quickly there will be an economic recovery and how closely the UK will follow the US model.

But, at the very least, it reminds us of the underlying reality of demographically driven skills shortages – all too easy to forget in these economically difficult times.

Access the report at: http://www.encore.org/files/research/JobsBluestonePaper3-5-10.pdf

 

 

Well enough to work?

An interesting session was hosted in London on Tuesday by the International Longevity Centre (ILC): Older workers, health and employment. While nothing overwhelmingly new came out of it, the keynote speech by Dame Carol Black in particular on trends in the health of older workers nevertheless created an impact.

Although, as she pointed out, one in four of us born today can expect to live to 100, the factors mitigating that in terms of our own poor health are startling. As the fourth fattest nation in the world we are facing a situation where 40% of all UK adults will be obese by 2025 and three quarters of the population will be too ill to work to the projected retirement age of 68.

Her presentation clearly underlined Abraham Lincoln’s point that “It’s not the years in your life that count but the life in your years”. The spectre of so many of us living longer in ill health and disability is an appalling prospect at every level – individual, societal and economic – and tantamount to a total disaster.

In the main the session focused on what employers can or could do to help the situation through health and wellbeing programmes and what these might encompass. Little mention was given of individual responsibility and how, rather ironically in light of this topic, you can lead a horse to water…

Realistically lack of knowledge about lifestyle habits and their effects generally isn’t the problem, and neither is lack of employer support. What is the problem is lack of motivation, good role models and a realistic understanding of the consequences of our actions (or inaction).

If those of us “in the know” in the ageing arena can be startled by such figures, surely a well-produced TV documentary series would have considerable impact on the man (and woman) in the street?

Retirement age considerations – the general and the specific

For someone who quite likes numbers it is always pleasing to see how the broader statistics are beginning to reflect outcomes that result from policy changes or from forecasts of what is likely to be inevitable anyway. It is also interesting to see how the macro figures as produced by the ONS stack up with the particular micro surveys that happen to be around at the time.

The recent labour force statistics continue to show an increasing number of over 65s in employment, although this month we have an increase in women but a slight decrease in men. Some of the tabloid press, and others who ought to know better, ascribe this increase to older people taking (stealing?) many of the new jobs coming along. I am not really sure where the evidence to back this up comes from. Intuitively I would suggest that it arises from people continuing in their current jobs and that it reflects financial necessity (particularly for women), a desire to stay connected, and that there are increasing numbers of older people around in general. This trend towards later employment is likely also to become more marked now that the DRA shackles are off.

In a more localised arena, two surveys produced this month, by AXA and by Prudential, look at the likely retirement ages of people. They are different in detail but are similar in what they are looking at and I expect to see more of them appearing as part of a wider education and enlightenment (and, of course, sales pitch). The precise numbers produced are different but are directionally the same. One age is the age at which people hope to retire. This averages at around the 60 mark. One age is the age at which people expect to be able to afford to retire – this falls into the mid-sixty area. And the final one is a computation of when people will actually be able to afford to retire. This one comes out at around 70.

The big task ahead, therefore, is to get the figures to converge – both an individual and a societal challenge. And at what age?

All kinds of interesting conundrums here. Watch this space.

The new longevity: does that include me?

In what was evidently a none too subtle attempt at attitudinal engineering, the DWP released the news as the old year died that some 17% of us who are now alive will live to be 100. No doubt the subliminal message was intended to be that we all ought to do more of the things that are necessary to sustain such alarming longevity such as looking after our health, saving more and working longer. 

Of course, the latter element isn’t purely down to personal choice and much as one might hope that a wake-up reminder about longevity will have employers marching back to work today determined to consider new strategies and policies to retain and recruit older employees, realistically it’s unlikely.

Having read numerous feature articles over the past few days focusing on the new statistics I was interested to see that none mentioned a key dilemma from the individual’s perspective – that is trying to rationalise how long your own lifespan is likely to be. The sad and untimely deaths of the actor Pete Postlethwaite at age 64 and musician Gerry Rafferty at 63 were stark reminders that, for many, the end can still come far too soon.

Much of what was written concerned the need for individuals to work longer and revise their attitudes towards ageing. All good stuff and eminently sensible if you know you are going to make it into your eighties, nineties, or even older. But many people, based on family history and the experiences of friends, colleagues and acquaintances still have an underlying suspicion – despite all the demographic statistics – that they themselves may not. Hence why stopping work as early as possible, spending on luxuries and living for today are an attractive and, in some ways, logical option.

Apparently scientific developments relating to the ability to make individual predictions of longevity are impressive but so far are neither widely accessible nor infallible. And of course, there are dangers if they fall into the wrong hands. Nevertheless, perhaps the time has come when we need to stop being so coy about the issue of when we each might shuffle off and start demanding individual assessments based on such measures as are available.

Of course no prediction could be guaranteed but, compared to the current situation where ageing means entering the land of the complete unknown, access to what meaningful information there is at say age 50, including one’s risk of particular diseases, could be a useful starting point for planning one’s future life.

BBC “Living longer” week – this week

Hardly a week goes by now without some aspect of the huge demographic change taking place capturing the headlines. One week it is retirement age, another week pensions, another unemployment, or maybe age discrimination. The issues are all vitally important and ever more pressing. This week the BBC is devoting itself to exploring a number of issues.

BBC ‘Living Longer’, a week of special programming on all Local Radio, on-line and regional television in England is running from Sunday, 7 November. Through specially commissioned research and grass roots reporting in the English regions, BBC Living Longer examines, in depth, the issues and opportunities facing an ageing population including social care; impact of caring on families; the cost to the NHS; work, retirement; and the opportunities of ageing.

Forty local radio stations, 12 regional television news programmes and a number of regional Politics Show programmes, as well as 44 local websites are working together on the editorial. And 40 BBC local reporters will file reports throughout the week.

A Facebook page has been specially created at www.facebook.com/bbclivinglonger for people to contribute or you can visit www.bbc.co.uk/livinglonger to keep in touch with what is going on and being said.

As part of the week of coverage BBC Local Radio has carried out research into the future of social care provision by local authorities in England and will reveal the number of complaints about elderly care services in the last 3 years. An indication of the best and worst places to grow old will also be provided through a specially commissioned report from Experian.

David Holdsworth, Controller BBC English Regions said:

“Living Longer is tackling an issue that affects all of us. No matter what age. Either as carers ourselves or the care we are likely to receive when we are elderly. BBC Local Radio will bring together its radio, regional television and on-line services to deliver a comprehensive picture of what the future holds for growing old in England today. This will tap into grassroots public reaction providing an England-wide picture in a week of extensive coverage that links into BBC network output.”

Motivating those who wish they could be elsewhere

There’s good news and bad news associated with yesterday’s announcement by the CIPD of a huge increase in the number of older workers planning to work beyond state pension age. According to their survey of 2,000 working people, 71% of those aged 55 and over are now planning on staying longer compared to 40% two years ago – with the main driver being “financial factors”.

The good news is that this implies that older people are taking a realistic view of their financial prospects for the future and are taking appropriate steps to deal with impact of the recession and demographic changes. The slightly less clear implication of this is whether or not they will actually be able to realise their plans as, at present, the majority of employers still retain a default retirement age and a right of veto in respect of requests to work beyond this (with no need to justify a refusal).

The bad news – for both employers and older employees – is that needing to work longer by no means equates to wanting to work longer. As CIPD spokesman Charles Cotton said, “Employers will have to motivate those who wish they could be elsewhere”.  They will indeed – and it will not be an easy task. Those who have to work longer for financial reasons are not necessarily going to be doing so gladly, so the issue of resentment and disengagement may have to be added to the already heady mix of challenges surrounding later life working. 

Employers wanting to avoid a range of attitudinal and behavioural problems should start investigating imaginative solutions to making later life working desirable, aspirational and motivating – without further delay. They need to work with their older employees to find ways to redesign the later years of working life in a way that is meaningful and appropriate for older people, provides good business outcomes, and doesn’t alienate younger generations.  A big ask? Maybe, but not impossible.

A glance at the demographics shows that the scale of the problem is going to be immense and is unlikely to recede greatly once the recession is over. A head in the sand approach will not be the best way forward.

“Building a society for all ages”

The deadline has now passed, at least for the moment, to make your voice heard to the government over their proposals outlined in “Building a society for all ages” a document which focuses predominantly on the issues surrounding our ageing population. The issues are very wide-ranging and extremely important.

We here, at in my prime, made our own representations in the fields in which we operate and if you are interested in seeing what we had to say please click here 

To read the original government document click here