Ageing without Children Kirsty Woodard Founder
About AWOC • Founded in 2014 • 4 key aims Carry out more research to better understand the issue Set up network of local AWOC groups Work with other organisations to develop solutions and services Raise awareness & campaign for the inclusion of people Ageing without Children in discussions on ageing
So far we have • 2 conferences; 1 in January 2015 and 1 in June 2016 • Our Voices report launched • 4 local groups – Leeds, York, Stockport and London • Facebook group with over 550 members • Twitter feed with aprox 1500 followers • Website • Invited to speak at a range of events including MHA loneliness conference, Future East events in Essex, North Norfolk and Cambridge, Future of Housing conference Bristol, Notting Hill Housing conference on ageing in London • Appeared on Woman’s Hour, BBC Breakfast, local radio and the Victoria Derbyshire show • All with no funding – at present time (Sept 2016) AWOC receives no public or grant funding
Definitions • Childfree – made a positive choice not to have children • Childless – wanted children but was unable to have them • Other people who regard themselves as ageing without children include people – who had children who subsequently died – are estranged from their children – have children who live a long distance away • Attitude to entering later life without children varies depending on whether was own choice • Irrespective, practical issues remain the same
Statistics • Only data on women is recorded by ONS • 20% of women born in the 1960s have no children • Estimates by European academics - male lifetime childlessness is highest (above 23%( in Finland, Italy, Germany, the UK and the Czech Republic.’ • Dutch research of post fertile women estimates 10% of women actively choose no children, 10% were medically infertile and 80% are childless by circumstances not of their choice. • By 2030 there will be 2 million people aged over 65 without adult children
“ most people don’t look after their parents anyway” • The majority of the 6.5 million carers in the UK – 40% – are looking after either a parent or parent in law • A quarter of people aged from 45 to 60 provide active day-to-day support to their parents essential to enable them to continue living independent lives • Most care for older people is not provided by the state or private agencies but by family members, at an estimated value of £55 billion annually. • More than 80% of older people with disabilities are being cared for either by their adult children or spouse or both of them together. The ‘oldest old’ are predominantly cared for by their children, whereas married older people predominantly receive spousal care • Numbers of older people in care homes between 2001 – 2011 (most recent figures) has remained static at around 291,000 despite an increase of 11% of people over 65 from 8.3 million to 9.2 million
Our Voices - 6 themes • Invisible • Being judged • “who will tell my story?” • Being a carer is the trigger • Practical help • Disconnect from other generations
Invisibility
Being judged “I went into the Building Society to change something on my account and the cashier was chatting with me as you do and she asked me if I had any children. When I said no, she said ‘oh you selfish cow”
Who will tell my story? “If I get dementia who is going to tell the carers I don’t like sprouts and hate Eastenders? No one is going to know are they? And I won’t be able to tell them”
Being a carer is a trigger “Who will do all the things I currently do for my ageing parents, from helping them overcome the terror of dementia, to buying their clothes to standing up for them when they are being ignored in hospital. And who will hold my hand and tell me they love me when I'm dying?”
Practical help “one of the things that gets my goat is how "caring for the elderly" is always talked about in terms of daily personal/semi-nursing care. But what most children do for their elderly parents is help them with financial matters, take them to the supermarket, take them on outings, deal with "officialdom" for them, take them to hospital and doctor appointments, etc. That part of helping the elderly never seems to get talked about”
Disconnect from younger people “I used to go to the pub with work and there were lots of different ages, now I’m retired I don’t seem to see anyone young anymore. I miss that”
People AWOC & Housing • Mainly very similar needs to all older people • Huge interest in co housing of all types and mixes • Help with low level repairs • Help with downsizing and moving
What AWOC would like • Government planning on ageing needs to take into account the increasing numbers of people getting old without family support. • Local authorities need to identify how many people in their area are likely to age without children and incorporate this into their strategies on ageing. • GPs, hospitals and social care services should identify people without family at an early stage to ensure they are not left without help. • Investment in advocacy services that can speak up for people without children • Investment in intergenerational programmes so that people ageing without children are not cut off from other generations. • Everyone should be given advice to help them make plans for their later life that take into account what will happen if they do need care or lose capacity to make their own decisions. • A national strategy for people ageing without children that brings together individual people ageing without children along with national and local Government, the NHS, housing providers and key bodies from civil society
Contact AWOC • Email ageingwithoutchildren@gmail.com • www.awoc.org • @awocuk
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