Care fears as numbers of childless elderly rise

The number of women aged 80 without children is projected to triple in 25 years, increasing demand for formal social care and causing a rise in unmet need, official analysis suggests.

Women born in the middle of the 1960s baby boom are twice as likely to be childless than those born immediately after the Second World War, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said. This, coupled with an increase in life expectancy, means there will be “many older people in the future who do not have adult children”.

As children are the main group providing informal care for adults aged 85 and older, demand for formal care is likely to rise.

Reasons for the 1960s group remaining childless could include an increase in female employment and a change in attitudes towards having children.