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| Counting the Cost for Pensioners |
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By Jamal Okae
Staff writer: New Civilisation
jamal.okae@newcivilisation.com
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In October 2003 the bodies of George and Gertrude Bates, a couple in their eighties, were found in the house they had lived in for 63 years. Because of their low income, they had not been able to afford to pay for their gas bills, so their supply was cut off. Their deaths – George died of hypothermia, Gertrude of a heart attack – followed weeks after this. Some of the discussion regarding the case in the media concerned the seemingly pernicious effect of the Data Protection Act, according to which British Gas could not inform social services of the elderly couple’s situation without their permission. As they were not able to contact the couple after 11 visits to the house, the permission was not obtained, so no assistance was given to the couple by the relevant authorities. However, the wider question to be considered concerns the plight of the elderly in modern Britain, both in regard to the services and support of the state, and that provided by families and the wider community.
According to Help the Aged, 21,800 deaths among the elderly over the winter of 2003 could be directly attributed to the cold conditions, a shocking statistic that reflects the poor conditions that many elderly people live in today. According to their calculations, the total for such deaths over the past ten years exceeds 300,000. Today high numbers of elderly people live in situations of deprivation, as the meagre pensions or other contributions that they receive do not provide for all of their needs. According to Department of Work and Pensions statistics, in 2000–01 69% of households headed by a pensioner depended on state benefits for at least 50% of their income. While according to the Centre for Policy on Ageing, “… a quarter of all pensioners have no resources other than a state pension and income support.” Due to these low incomes, pensioners struggle to find the means to cover their basic necessities. The Family Expenditure Survey conducted by The Office for National Statistics found that (in 2000–01) 36% of the average household’s expenditure was spent on housing, fuel and food. For households where the head was aged 65 or older, this figure rose to 40%; while for pensioners living alone who were dependent mainly on state pensions, this rose to 49%. One result of such privation among the elderly is the unacceptably high level of cold-related deaths each year during winter.
Despite the UK being one of the richest countries in the world, as a society it is increasingly unwilling to bear the costs of caring for the elderly, in terms of the money and the time that must be invested. This reflects the strengthening of individualism in society, but not only are people unwilling to devote time to caring for relatives, as they do not see it as their responsibility, the fact that people are more likely to work and live far from relatives also limits the time available for people to directly undertake the provision of care.
It could be argued that the dominance of single-person households in the UK as a proportion of total households indicates the extent to which society has become accustomed to more fractured human relations. According to the 2001 Census, there were 21,660,475 households in England and Wales, and 30.0 per cent of these (6.5 million) are one-person house-holds – up from 26.3 per cent in 1991. This makes the single-person household the most prevalent in the UK, while couples without children are the second most prevalent type. As society has moved towards this more solitary mode of living, generally speaking, the elderly have not been among the beneficiaries.
The changing attitudes towards family life and care are reflected in a study commissioned by the Salvation Army, results of which they published on 13th January 2004 in a report entitled ‘The Responsibility Gap’. Attitudes towards a range of issues were canvassed, including views about care for the elderly. 34% of the respondents agreed with the statement “I’m worried there won’t be anyone to look after me when I’m old.” However, 21% also agreed with the statement “I don’t want to have to care for my relatives when they get old.” While society accepts that the situation that many elderly people face today is not acceptable, fewer people are ready to take on the burden of caring for their elderly relatives themselves, whether that be the financial aspects or the necessary daily care. For example, 37% of respondents to the Salvation Army study agreed with the statement “Government is currently having to fund many of the basic social services that should be provided by the family.” When asked ‘Who is MOST responsible for looking after/contributing assistance to your children’, 69% of respondents said ‘Myself’. When asked about care for their grandparents however, only 9% felt that they were the person most responsible for such care or ensuring that it was provided. Also, while only 5% of respondents felt that the national government was primarily responsible for providing care for their children, 17% felt that the national government held prime responsibility for their grandparents care. The increasing numbers of elderly who do not receive care from their own relatives are a natural reflection of these attitudes.
The elderly are now receiving much less informal care (as opposed to paid care, such as home help) from younger family members, such as their children or children-in-law, than was the case even in the eighties. While statistics seem to show only a small decrease in the number of people involved in informal care for over 65s, the amount being undertaken by younger generations has fallen sharply. It is far likelier nowadays that the person caring for an elderly relative is their spouse or partner, rather than a younger relation. According to the General Household Survey carried out by the Office for National Statistics in 1985, around 48.4% of informal carers were the children or children-in-law of the older people being cared for. In 1995, this share had dropped markedly, to approximately 38.2%. Over the same period, the proportion of carers who were the spouse of the older person receiving care increased greatly. As a proportion of carers, they were 37.1% in 1985, but by 1995 they had increased to around 56%. In absolute terms, there were around 340 thousand people over 65 receiving care from their spouses in 1985, whereas in 1995 there were 490 thousand. The number of older people receiving care from their children or children-in-law declined by about 100 thousand, from 435 thousand in 1985 to 335 thousand in 1995, a drop of around 23 per cent.
The increase in care provided by partners is a reflection of demographic changes in the population; as longevity increases, there is a higher likelihood of both partners surviving into old age; there is also an increased likelihood of one of the partners requiring care due to illness. The decrease in care being provided by children, children-in-law, or friends or other relatives reflects the fact that people are more inclined to view the care for their elderly relatives as the responsibility of the state rather than something they as individuals are primarily responsible for. Thus the situation today is that society has effectively disengaged itself from the elderly, leaving them to provide care for themselves.
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