However, this highly idyllic part of North Yorkshire – famous for its Wensleydale cheese and Swaledale lamb – has indeed seen the highest percentage increase in the share of over-65s in 10 years, census data show. Nearly one in four people in Richmondshire is now of retirement age (23.5%), compared with 17.5% a decade ago, a 34% increase in population share. This is an increase from 9,076 to 11,700 people and double the 5,481 retirees living there in 1981. Since 2011, there has been a 10.9% decrease in the population share of people between the ages of 15 and 64 and a decrease of 12.3% in children under the age of 15. Having so many seniors is expensive for the council, said Stuart Parsons, a councilor who leads the North Yorkshire Independents. “We are already spending 60% of the total budget of our municipality for adult social care. “It’s huge,” he said. But he stressed that the area would be lost without their retirees: “We would not have volunteers without them. “They tend to get stuck in their new communities and they tend to do quite well financially.” Although life expectancy has increased, having a disproportionately elderly population means that more people (especially the very elderly) live with ongoing illnesses such as arthritis, dementia, heart problems or osteoporosis. North Yorkshire has long been a popular destination for seniors, many of whom are military veterans with fond memories of their time at Catterick Garrison, Parsons said. Some buy second homes that become first homes, pricing the younger ones. Housing prices in local authorities are cheaper than the UK average – the average cost of a home was 24 242,500 in December 2021, compared to the UK average of 0 280,000. But real estate in Yorkshire Dales National Park, which covers two-thirds of the area, is much more expensive and scarce. “If you are a young family and you want to shop in the national park, you just can’t. “We do not have enough well-paid jobs to support them, so what is happening is that people are going 12 miles from Richmondshire to Darlington, where you can still buy a house for under 100 100,000,” Parsons said. As a result, several schools closed or merged – regular viewers of Our Yorkshire Farm will know that Owen’s parents have to travel an hour and a half to their school from their farm at Ravenseat in Swaledale. There are few secondary schools in Richmondshire. One of them, in Leyburn, has only 316 students, well below its capacity of 492. Subscribe to the First Edition, our free daily newsletter – every morning at 7 p.m. BST Women of childbearing age in Richmond seem reluctant to have children. The prescription rate for reversible long-acting contraception in the region is 68.7 per 1,000 women aged 15-44, significantly higher than the rate seen in the UK as a whole (49.5), according to the North Yorkshire 2021 Joint Strategic Needs Assessment . In the last 10 years, more people have left Richmondshire – either in a coffin or in a moving truck – than were born or moved to the area. While the population of England increased by 6.6%, the population of Richmondshire decreased by 4.4%, from around 52,000 in 2011 to 49,800 in 2021. It now ranks 306th for the total population of 309 local governments in England, down two places in a decade.
