Older people are vital to city’s economy

One of the enjoyable features of Canterbury is its rich mixture of people. As a small city we are fortunate to have a diversity of people from all over the world to work, study and to visit. This means, by comparison with many towns and cities in the UK of a similar size, we are a city of many cultures and lifestyles.

It is not surprising there was a majority vote to ‘remain’ in the referendum over EU membership. But the demographics also show those who voted to leave were mainly older men and women who have spent most of their lives living in Canterbury.

Because of the high percentage of students in the city there is the perception it is a place dominated by the preferences and tastes of young people. This is borne out by a dynamic night-time economy and the proliferation of nail parlours, hairdressing salons, fast food outlets and fashion shops that cater for their needs.

But this hides the fact that older people in Canterbury make a very significant contribution to the economic, cultural and social life of the city. My impression is that, other than at pantomimes, the average age of a typical audience at the excellent Marlowe Theatre is over 50. The renowned Canterbury Festival is almost entirely supported by this age group. The Canterbury Society, committed to improving the quality of the city, has an even older age profile.

Most voluntary associations, clubs and charities rely on older people’s support and the unpaid effort of this older generation.

It is this that keeps Canterbury as a vibrant community. It explains why so many people choose to live here. Many parents of students move to Canterbury after they have retired having discovered how much they like the place through their children.

Over the past 10 years it has become one of the most popular places to live in the south east. Ironically, the outcome of this demand is more pollution and traffic congestion that hopefully electric and self-drive cars will resolve.

But another contribution of older people in Canterbury is their role in the local economy through their business start-up and entrepreneurship.

Many commuters retire, tired of working in London, and start their own businesses in the city.

Nationally the rate of business start-up among older people has doubled over the past five years. Canterbury reflects this trend. Early retirement from corporate jobs makes self-employment an attractive option for many men and women.

With an increase in life expectancy and shortfalls in pensions, people who retire are having to generate an income to meet their basic needs. Older women with dependents often need flexible sources of income.

Self-employment can offer the solution. By this I mean selfemployment in the proper and traditional sense of the word and not of the sort that some companies use to avoid tax and employment legislation.

We are all having to work longer. The state pension age for men and women is increasing as it is across the whole of Europe. But for a large percentage of older people they are unable to carry on working in their ‘career’ jobs.

I know of very few people in the construction industry, for example, that do not have some disability by the time they reach their 50s. They have back injuries and problems with their knees and hips. People in highly stressful jobs often reach mental exhaustion by the time they get to their 60s.

It is insulting of politicians, who have never worked in these jobs and enjoying generous pension benefits, to dictate to these hard-working people that they must work until their late 60s. But poor pensions force them to earn a living.

The only option is to become selfemployed or to get less demanding part-time jobs. The outcome is a sustainable local economy.

Older men and women make up an indispensable force that maintains the community fabric of Canterbury. To this must be added the unpaid contribution these older men and women make to family support.

How many single parents are able to have jobs and earnings to support themselves and their families because of the unpaid help they receive from their retired parents, looking after grandchildren or others?

It allows them to work part- or fulltime in those sectors of the economy that generate our local wealth. The night-time economy, hospitality and retail, for example.

Canterbury may appear to be a place for and of young people, but the local economy and the entertainment and ‘fun’ of young people is underwritten by an invisible and taken-for-granted army of older men and women. This will be even more the case with the labour shortages created by Brexit.