Parts of UK ‘growing apart’ as ages vary

Parts of the UK are ageing twice as fast as other areas, showing how the country is “growing apart”, a new study suggests.

Research by the Resolution Foundation indicated that Maldon in Essex, Copeland in Cumbria and Richmondshire in Yorkshire are ageing twice as fast as the rest of the UK, while areas such as Nottingham and Oxford are growing younger.

The thinktank said that while the UK population is ageing – one in four are set to be over 65 by 2041 – there is widespread demographic divergence in both the pace and direction of ageing in different areas.

The UK’S average age has been rising steadily, from 36 in 1975 to 40 today, but a 25-year gap was discovered between its oldest and youngest local authorities (54 and 29 respectively), said the report.

Researchers said young people are leaving rural and coastal communities, which are already older on average than other locations, for urban areas.

Low local birth rates were said to be a key factor in ageing in older communities.

In the 10 fastest-ageing areas, women aged 15-44 account for less than 15% of the population. The UK average is 19%.

And poorer urban ethnically diverse areas are ageing more slowly because of high birth rates.

The high birth rate in Barking and Dagenham, in London (19 births per 1,000 people, compared to 11 in the UK as a whole) has given it the highest proportion of under-18s in the country.