Charity celebrates UK's ageing population

Healthcare News
27/08/2008
Organisation suggests new figures may lead to improved policies.

Recent figures which show that there are now more over-60s than under-18s in the UK should be celebrated, a spokesman from a leading charity has said.

Mervyn Kohler, special adviser at Help the Aged, suggested that the data should spur policy-makers into taking greater account of older age groups.

He stated that the key task for the authorities is to ensure that older people can increasingly play an active role in an ageing society.

Mr Kohler continued: "An ageing society is a fact of life which should be welcomed and embraced, not treated with concern."

He also suggested that any older people who wish to remain in employment despite reaching what is deemed a retirement age, should be allowed to do so and that this will be of great benefit to the UK economy.

Meanwhile, the charity recently released figures which suggested that pensioners in the west Midlands are not accessing the full range of state benefits to which they are fully entitled.

It estimated that around 420,000 people in the region are eligible for pension credit, but just under 280,000 currently receive it.

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