Demography - Ageing Population Flashcards
Is the average age of the UK population rising or falling?
Rising
Average age of population in 1971
34.1
Average age of population in 2021
41.7
What age groups are growing as a proportion of the population and what age groups are shrinking?
Older age groups are growing and younger age groups are shrinking
What does Hirsch believe about the traditional age pyramid?
It is disappearing and being replaced by equal-sized ‘blocks’ representing different age groups
Causes for the ageing population
Increasing life expectancy
Decline in infant mortality rate
Declining fertility rate
What do older people consume a large proportion of?
Services such as health and social care (more than any other group)
What does the importance of increase with age?
Importance of long-term health conditions
What accounted for 70% of health and social care spending in England in 2010 according to the Department for Health?
Health conditions
What is 55% of welfare spending currently paid to?
Pensioners
What has risen by 15% in the last decade?
The number of over 65s living alone in the UK
What gender are most of the over 65s living alone in the UK and why?
Female because women generally live longer than men and because they are usually younger than their husbands
‘The feminisation of later life’
Among the over 75s, there are twice as many women as men
What does a lower proportion of people in work mean?
Lower tax revenues
Higher public expenditure
Despite the recent increases in state pension age, what is expected to continue to rise?
The pensioner population
