The 40-strong class, which is overwhelmingly made up of women over 65 – the oldest, Anne, 84, completed the entire routine – is a picture of health in older age. Some choose to exercise from a chair during floor work, but everyone has timed everything. “Their attitude is amazing,” says Sterne, who calls the class the “crème de la crème” of the north Norfolk town’s senior population. There should be little surprise about the demand for Sterne’s courses, and not just because of her infectious enthusiasm. One in three people in north Norfolk is now aged 65 or over, making it the oldest place in England and Wales in terms of proportion of people of retirement age. Its leading position was revealed in new census figures which underline what statisticians, economists and politicians have known for years: that Britain is ageing. There are now more people aged 65 and over in England and Wales than children aged under 15. The number of people aged over 64 has increased by 20% in the last decade in England and Wales, to 11.1 million people. Almost one in five people are over the age of 65. The sweeping consequences of this demographic revolution can hardly be overestimated. From the Tories’ pressure on Boris Johnson over tax and spending, to the crisis in ambulance waiting times, so many of the pressing issues of the day are affected by the large group of people who have worked into old age. Despite the years to plan, however, many experts question whether the country has adequately prepared for the economic, cultural and political changes this entails. In England and Wales, people aged 65 and over outnumber children under 15. Photo: WPA/Getty Images The impact is uneven, both geographically and economically. Several of the women at Sterne’s gym tell a similar story of holidaying in seaside Cromer before retiring there. The fact that so many people have made a similar decision has advantages. Women unwind from a busy social calendar. Mondays, song. Wednesdays, art. Friday night, drinks on the pier. The local WI has a waiting list. However, they also know that as far as able-bodied, able-bodied people with the means to support themselves, they are the lucky ones. “I’m very well off, financially,” says Marg Hooper, 69. “But, gosh, I feel for those who aren’t. It’s difficult in this position.” Sue Sansby, 75, agrees. “Here it is aimed at pensioners. And we can’t compare to a 75-year-old living in a high-rise. If you’re retired and on a private pension, you’re probably fine. Not everyone is in that position.” While a strong community has developed in Cromer, the concentration of older people highlights the pressures on health, housing and social care seen nationally. “North Norfolk is a great place to live and people move here for that reason,” said Tim Adams, leader of North Norfolk District Council. “This trend will only continue for years. I would like to ask if we have prepared enough for this. I know many households that have unmet social care needs now. This leaves them dependent on charities, neighbors and family members. It puts a lot of pressure on people. But people who work in social care need housing too. That’s another area where we really haven’t done enough.” Aideen Young, of the Center for Aging Better, described the census figures as another wake-up call, pointing to the urgent need to change attitudes at work, reach out to older people in poverty, create homes that are fit to live in – and to face a pervasive age that says it stays firmly in place. “Despite the fact that we knew this was happening, are we doing it right? No, we certainly don’t think so,” he said. Britain missed a chance to be ahead of the game. As prime minister, David Cameron ordered a major study into all the effects and implications of Britain’s ageing. With buy-in from Cameron, his policy guru Oliver Letwin and then Cabinet Secretary Jeremy Heywood, The Future of an Aging Population report made sweeping recommendations on work, training, housing, health, transport, technology and care. There was just one problem: it was published within weeks of the 2016 EU referendum, and Whitehall has been battling crises ever since. This large cohort, who stayed in Carnaby St in the 60s and rose up against the Vietnam War, are now increasing spending on health and pensions David Willetts “Possibly, pre-Brexit, we would be doing very well,” said Sarah Harper, professor of gerontology at Oxford University, who chaired the report’s expert panel. “I think we would be one of the leading countries in solving this issue. That has obviously passed and now there are huge problems. The fact that we can’t even sort out health and social care shows that we have fallen below the league in terms of our ability to deal with it.” He added that the aging process in Britain is not only about longer life spans, but also about the relative decline of younger workers. Birth rates are falling and immigration is falling. “We knew we were going to be in a very tight labor market – that’s not surprising,” he said. “Brexit and the pandemic have made it much worse for us.” The consequences are keenly felt in Westminster. The prime minister, whose premiership is already under siege, has been attacked by hawkish Tory MPs over the size of the state and his refusal to heed their calls for tax cuts. But David Willetts, the Tory peer who has studied demographic pressures for years, says the impact of our aging population has driven policy. “In 2017 we saw more people celebrating their 70th birthday than ever before in British history,” he said. “This large cohort, which hung out in Carnaby Street in the 1960s and rioted in Grosvenor Square against the Vietnam War, is now collecting all its pensions and increasing health and pension spending, even before you add the increase of life expectancy. . “Margaret Thatcher operated in an environment where she had relatively few people reaching retirement age. We had a labor force boom with relatively few children and relatively few elderly people. And that’s a very different environment for controlling public spending than we have today.” Exercise class at Cromer Parish Hall, North Norfolk. Photo: Fabio De Paola/The Observer With the larger numbers, the gap between the haves and the have-nots in later life is increasingly stark. Willetts believes something has to give. He believes the “triple lock” which sees the state pension rise based on inflation, earnings or 2.5% – whichever is higher – is “an unsustainable ratchet that pushes up pension incomes”. It adds that the retirement age may need to be raised again, a matter being studied by an independent review for the Department for Work and Pensions. He believes these older people who are now struggling to find work and support themselves should be “a priority for focused public spending rather than the generality of pensioners”. Given the labor shortages emerging across the economy following Brexit and the pandemic, it seems extraordinary that older workers should struggle to secure work. However, something strange is happening in the workplace. Over the past two years, the number of economically inactive 50-64 year olds has increased by 250,000 – a significant reversal of the trend of the past decade. Covid seems to have hit older workers disproportionately, but many experts believe that a persistent aging also remains. Not enough employers have adjusted to the reality that they need more older workers able to do the job, they say. Andy Briggs, chief executive of pensions firm Phoenix Group and the government’s “business champion” for the aging society and older workers, pointed to research showing that applications from older workers were far less likely to lead to an interview from younger applicants with similar skills for the job. He also said older workers were being shut out of jobs they could do – but added there was action the government could take. “One in four over 50s have significant caring responsibilities for an elderly relative,” he said. “And yet the vast majority of businesses do not have any form of political care. So, in the end, people more often end up being given the choice: “Do I take care of my elderly parents or do I work? Because I can’t do both.” He called on ministers to introduce five days of statutory carers’ leave, as promised in the Tory manifesto. The pledge was missing from the Queen’s speech, which was revealed in May. In fact, increasing life expectancy means that caring for a grandchild or parents – or both – is now a real issue for those in their late 50s, 60s and 70s. Just this weekend, Age UK is warning that the 1.8 million older people caring for loved ones are now dangerously overtired and unsupported in the wake of the pandemic. More elderly carers said they had difficulty managing daily activities such as getting out of bed or dressing. Greater access to breaks, through respite care, is an obvious answer to help these older carers cope. However, some of these services have been closed since Covid arrived. For the growing numbers already in retirement, Labor peer Joan Bakewell, 89, author and presenter, says voluntary groups and friendships are hugely important as council services have been stripped down over the years austerity since 2010. “I belong to a book group and a film club. This is extremely important and useful,” he said…
