More homes contain three generations

Healthcare News
15/11/2005
The number of elderly people living with their children or grandchildren is increasing, according to a spokesperson from Age Concern.

The number of elderly people living with their children or grandchildren is increasing, according to a spokesperson from Age Concern.

Age Concern's Gordon Lishman, told ITV's 'Lunchtime News' that a new report has revealed that financial reasons were often behind cases of the trend.

Currently over 850,000 adults now have one or more parents living at home with them.

Mr Lishman said the report also identified a problem with access to care, and whether older people who need some support can actually get that from local government or the state.

"People want a choice. They want to be able to decide how much time they spend with their families and how much time they spend living on their own. What this survey is suggesting is that not as many older people as we would like are able to make that choice entirely freely," he said.

"What we are talking about here is people getting together as a family and working out what is right for them. That may be a matter of adapting an existing house or it may be a matter of getting together to buy the right size of house to enable you to manage as a family," he added.