Multiple issues, multiple solutions

The International Longevity Centre-UK is an independent, non-partisan think-tank

dedicated to addressing issues of longevity, ageing and population change.

Multiple issues, multiple solutionsDavid Sinclair, International Longevity Centre – UK

@sinclairda @ilcuk



Summary Dr Dylan Kneale Using data from English

Longitudinal Study of Ageing What is Social Exclusion and why

are older people at risk How has exclusion changed 2002-

2008 Who is most likely to be excluded Trends and key findings Recommendations



What is social exclusion?

• Broadest sense Recognition of

material/non-material link

• No, Arguably apolitical with a rich academic

history

• UN, Europe…UK?



Social ExclusionDecent Housing and

Public Transport

Civic Activities and Access to information

Local Amenities

Consumer goodsCultural Activities

Social Relationships

Financial Products



Why might older people be at risk from exclusion?/multiple exclusion characteristics that are more likely to occur

in later life, such as disability, low income and widowhood

cumulative disadvantage, where cohorts become more unequal over time

community characteristics which make older people more vulnerable e.g. population turnover, economic decline and crime

experience of age-based discrimination.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/driever/5525684658/sizes/m/in/photostream/



Exclusion from Social Relationships



Exclusion from Cultural Activities



Exclusion from Civic Activities/Access to Information



Exclusion from Local Amenities



Exclusion from Decent Housing and Public Transport



Exclusion from common consumer goods



Exclusion from financial products



Access to banking

Almost ten per cent of older people do not have a current account

Among older people surveyed in 2002 and 2008, fifteen per cent of older people did not report having a current account at both points.

Six per cent of older people who reported a current account in 2002 no longer did so in 2008.



Exclusion up - oldest and ethnic minorities

Between 2002 and 2008, 9.3 per cent of people aged 80 plus became excluded from financial products compared to only 2.1 per cent of those aged 50-59.

In 2008, the odds of an older person from an ethnic minority being excluded from financial products were 3 times higher than the odds of a white older person.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pondspider/4170990903/sizes/m/in/photostream/



So how has exclusion changed?



And what about multiple exclusion



Exclusion isn’t inevitable by age



What about those not excluded?



Who is most likely to be excluded?

Older men were significantly more likely to be excluded from social relationships. Older women were more likely to be excluded from cultural activities.

Being non-white was associated with a higher risk of experiencing some form of exclusion compared to being white (59.8% compared to 47.3%).

http://www.flickr.com/photos/driever/5525684658/sizes/m/in/photostream/



Who is most likely to be excluded?

Wealthy older people are much less likely to be socially excluded than their poorer counterparts

Becoming a care giver between 2002 and 2008 was associated with a two fold increase in the odds of becoming excluded from two or more domains of social

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sbeebe/5154169795/sizes/m/in/photostream/



Other trends and key findings

Living together is good for us

The squeezed middle age The oldest old remain the

most excluded Growing exclusion from

housing/transport/ amenities

http://www.flickr.com/photos/thousandshipz/4679235/sizes/m/in/photostream/



Living together is good for us

Those who moved from living alone to living as part of a couple (with no children) exhibited a 68% fall in the odds of becoming multiply excluded between 2002 and 2008 compared to those who stayed living alone;

Those who moved from being resident in a couple household to living alone were over three times more likely to become multiply excluded.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/anabadili/2963913137/sizes/m/in/photostream/



The squeezed middle age

People in their fifties increasingly excluded from society The number of people aged 50 plus

being socially excluded from decent housing, public transport and local amenities has risen sharply

Over 1 in 6 people in their fifties were socially excluded in two of more areas– up from 13 per cent in 2002.



On the other hand – the oldest old remain the most excluded

Almost 38% of those aged 85 or older faced some kind of social exclusion, an encouraging decline of 10% from 2002

As people age, they are more likely to become more socially excluded than less

Almost two-fifths (38%) of those aged 85 and older were excluded from two or more domains of exclusion in 2008

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pinkchocolate/3039589789/sizes/m/in/photostream/



Growth in exclusion from housing/transport/amenities

Rates of exclusion from decent housing and public transport and exclusion from local amenities rose sharply between 2002 and 2008 among the population aged 50 and above as a whole – by over five per cent to approximately sixteen per cent.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/un_photo/5832685007/sizes/z/in/photostream/



So what needs to happen?

Allocate the task of measuring and developing strategies to overcome material and non-material disadvantage to a specific team within government.

Shift the focus of government policy on ageing towards prevention.

Develop a widowhood strategy.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rwjensen/2288339230/sizes/m/in/photostream/



So what needs to happen?

Better develop outreach provision to reach the hardest to reach before crises occur.

Improve planning of neighbourhoods for people of all ages to reduce levels of exclusion from local amenities and decent housing and public transport.

Provide additional support for carers and reduce gender inequalities in social exclusion through the expansion of existing intervention programmes.



Contact

David Sinclair

Assistant Director, Policy and Communications

International Longevity Centre – UK

[email protected]

Twitter.com/ilcuk

Twitter.com/sinclairda

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Multiple issues, multiple solutions