Commenting on the latest ONS population projections‚ Andrew Harrop‚ Head of Policy at Age Concern and Help the Aged‚ said:

“The fact that the number of older people in our society is bound to increase is cause for real celebration. People live longer and healthier lives thanks to the social and economic progress of our society‚ the advances in medicine and the increasing effectiveness of preventative treatments.

“But we also know that the growth of an older population will present significant challenges to policy makers in a number of areas‚ which we need to start addressing now. The creaking social care system needs a thorough reform to ensure fairness and accessibility for the increasing number of older people with often complex support needs.
 
“With the increase of people of pensionable age outpacing the rise in the numbers of working age people‚ more pressure will be put on the pension system. Extending working lives will be inevitable‚ but doing it just by increasing state pension age more quickly won’t achieve the goal. The Government needs to think on how to make the labour market fit for older workers so that people who want to work past state pension age are allowed to do so‚ while those who want to retire after a life of hard work can do so without being afraid of slipping into poverty.

“Also‚ the challenges presented by an ageing population shouldn’t overshadow the contribution made to our society by older people‚ who offer a huge amount of free care and support to children and grandchildren and form the backbone of many voluntary organisations.”