Half of Britons are living into their 80s
HALF of Britain’s population now lives into their eighties, official figures show.
The age at which 50 per cent of Britons are expected to still be alive has reached 81.8 years for men and 85.3 years for women.
The commonest age of death is even older at 85.6 years for men and 88.3 years for women, says the Office for National Statistics.
This is an increase of 8.2 years and 3.8 years respectively for men and women since 1986.
Yesterday experts warned of the pressures on pensions and social care provision of a rapidly growing elderly population.
There are fears that savers taking advantage of new freedoms to take their full pension pot at 55 will run out of money in retirement.
Others will struggle to receive the help they need to wash, dress or eat as the already crisis-hit social care system buckles under the weight of demand.
A Government spokesman said: “It is good news that people are living longer and healthier lives but with this comes new challenges, which is why we are working to address the needs of an ageing population.
“Our pension reforms are encouraging saving and making it simpler and easier than ever before to plan for later life.
“We are also giving local authorities access to £7.6billion of new money for adult social care.”
Caroline Abrahams of Age UK said: “Our flatlining social care system has been chronically underfunded for years and will be unable to cope with the extra demand that an ageing population will bring unless substantially more money is found.”
Asim Butt, health analyst at the ONS, said: “These increases are important to consider for both pension provision now and in the long term and also for health and social care provision.
WHAT good news it is to have confirmation that life expectancy is rising quickly. Just think of all those people who will get to see their grandchildren or even great-grandchildren grow up when just a few decades ago they never would have had the chance.
We can be grateful too for the medical advances that have made this possible. Not only have these given us longer lives but they have also ensured that many people can enjoy good health for longer as well.
It would be foolish not to admit that this raises issues. Social care and pension funding in particular are pressing matters that must be addressed early.
But there is no good reason to believe these challenges cannot be met.