How Britain is failing the old on care and pensions
BRITAIN is failing to care for its elderly, letting them down with low pensions and underfunded social care, US researchers have claimed.
In a study of 18 countries, Norway, Sweden and the US were deemed best equipped to cope with an ageing population – while Britain does not even make the top ten.
The research, by Columbia University, gave Britain poor rankings for the income level of pensions, its spending on long-term care for older people and even on how much the over-65s trust their neighbours.
Across five social and economic categories the UK is rated 11th, based on figures from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.
Study leader Dr John Rowe, professor of health policy and ageing at Columbia University, said: ‘Growing older is increasingly associated with uncertainty and fear, especially in those countries for which the social and economic safety net is beginning to shred.
‘These findings suggest that the UK is at risk with respect to some of the very
‘Vastly underfunded social care system’
important aspects of the safety net for older people.’
In Britain, average pension pots are 3.7 times the average salary, compared to 13.6 times in Spain, while spending on longterm care was found to be 2 per cent of GDP, less than half of the 4.29 per cent seen in the Netherlands.
Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK, said: ‘The UK has a vastly underfunded social care system which is having a devastating impact on frail older people and their families and a significant knockon impact on the NHS.’
A spokesman for the Department for Work and Pensions said: ‘Combined with our pension reforms that are helping more people than ever save into a private pension and reducing pensioner poverty to a near record low, our changes to the state pension age will give people the certainty they need to plan ahead for retirement.’
A Department of Health spokesman added: ‘We want Britain to be the best country in the world to grow old, which is why this Government has committed to ensuring those in old age receive affordable and dignified care.’