Beyond social care

Lucy Kenningham | 14th October 2021 | Uncategorised

How can the government prepare to deal with an ageing population?

Boris Johnson’s recent surprise tax rise will put £12 billion into the NHS and social care funding such things as residential care for elderly people. The hike unfairly targets younger generations exempting elderly people with assets - but its overall aim is an important and increasingly urgent one. The population is ageing: over 65s will make up 24 per cent of the population by 2043, up from 18.5 per cent currently. In France, it’s 20 per cent, in Italy 23 per cent and in Japan it is 28 per cent. The dependency ratio (between working age people and retirees) is narrowing. Globally, there are 6.3 working people per over 65 but the UN predicts that will fall to just two to one by 2100. An imbalance of productivity and reliance is emerging. One solution is increasing the labour force participation rate, encouraging new parents to return to work and reducing unemployment. Japan excels in providing citizens with job security and correspondingly has an 85 per cent rate of participation. The...

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