Building a society for all ages

UK Government strategy paper to designed to help Britain prepare for our ageing society. The paper highlights the need for a cultural shift, to build a vision of a society for all ages – where people are not defined by their age, and prejudice does not prevent harnessing the skills and experience of the older population.

Areas for actions and new initiatives highlighted include:

Having the later life you want:

• a new interactive ‘one stop shop’ for helping people planning ahead will make it easier for people in mid-life to make decisions they need to on a range of issues such as their financial affairs and health concerns
• a new Active at 60 package will provide people approaching their 60th birthdays with information about their entitlements and opportunities. To help increase participation, local authorities will use smartcard technology to provide all-in-one cardsto give access to local activities 

Older people at the heart of families:

• a Families and Relationships Green Paper will to look at how to ensure different generations have the opportunity and ability to keep in touch with each other
• digital inclusion projects, targeted at giving people in sheltered housing access to new technology
• carers able to take up training opportunities through Jobcentre Plus
• the role of grandparents who  will increasingly be looking after grandchildren
• increasing demands on a ‘sandwich generation’ who look after both children and older relatives
• a grandparents summit will look at the changing role of grandparents and what extra help they may need

Engaging with work and the economy:

• a review of the Default Retirement Age to reflect the change in economic circumstances
• provision of advice to businesses on employing older workers, and information to people who wish to continue working , flexible opportunities in teaching, tutoring and for 50+ self-employment. The Age Positive initiative will raise awareness of training opportunities and help to improve employer attitudes to older workers

Improving financial support:

• a restoration of the link between the basic State Pension and earnings in 2012 or by the end of the next Parliament at the latest, to tackle the historic inequalities in entitlement, especially for women by reducing the number of years to build a full basic State Pension to 30 from 2010. It also reflects longer lives, and makes the State Pension affordable in the long term by gradually increasing State Pension age, between 2024 and 2046, to 68 for both men and women
• from 2012 employers will be required to automatically enrol all eligible workers into a qualifying workplace pension and to contribute at least 3 per cent of the worker’s qualifying earnings to that scheme

Better public services for later life:

• a new health prevention package will raise the focus on preventative services for conditions that often affect people in later life, including footcare, falls prevention, continence care, depression and arthritis
• care and Support Green Paper will set out a new vision for the future of social care and support, explain how services will change to deliver the vision, and suggest options for a fairer and more sustainable funding system

Building communities for all ages:

• Generations Together programme to fund intergenerational projects across the country to break down barriers and challenge negative stereotypes
• driving training in a driving for life programme, and help for people to make the most of the public transport