Resources on aging from the Massachusetts Executive Office of Elder Affairs

We’ve just completed our latest piece of consumer research which was carried out to better understand the hopes, fears and aspirations of the UK’s population towards retirement and later life.

The findings, captured in our report ‘The New Ageing Index’, show that many older people feel excluded and marginalised, leading to an increased sense of isolation and loneliness.

Broader findings reveal that traditional stereotypes about retirement and old age have become outdated.

The survey of 1,000 adults covered a wide range of topics from health and wellbeing to technology, politics and social care. Whilst the sense of exclusion is not to be celebrated, the survey did show that retirees are living more active, healthy and dynamic lifestyles and are eager to embrace everything from technology to sport and dating in later life.

Some of the key findings include:

Over a third of respondents believe being old is like being cancelled and this rises for women aged over 75.
Their dynamic lifestyles start with fitness – with an incredible 89% of the UK’s oldest people now espousing an active lifestyle
Rather than fearing tech, they increasingly embrace it and want more products aimed at them including AI to combat loneliness
Independence is a priority – people are more concerned about the prospect of ending up in a care home (44% ) than they would be about the death of a partner (36%)

Martin Jones, Home Instead CEO, said: “We urgently need to challenge how older people are both perceived and treated in this country.

“Traditional stereotypes have become completely outdated. Older people can make a huge contribution and it’s clear from our research that they want to embrace life and be catered for at every level.

“This research shows that we need to bin the stereotype and rethink what it means to be old in Britain today.

“Today’s older generation want to be active, to have fun – and to be involved.

“The image we may have of retirees whose horizons have shrunk to just a bit of daytime TV and a cup of tea simply doesn’t stand up to scrutiny.”

You can find full details of the findings and download a copy of the report here.

The research will be repeated quarterly across a full calendar year looking into new aspects of age and ageing each time.