Over 60s Make Positive Contribution to Society

A heartfelt letter recently written to The Telegraph has expressed some interesting views on how older people are viewed in society. The author is a 62-year-old solicitor who is delighted that Andrew Dilnot's Commission on Funding of Care and Support is in favour of the state assisting elderly people to obtain the social and health care that they need in their final years. However, the author of the letter laments the way in which he is seen by society simply because he is over 60. As he points out he is a fully employed and active member of society, he runs his own business and pays taxes. He adds that his is not an isolated case as he knows other older people a good ten or twenty years his senior who are active in society too.

The author of the letter also points out that most older people in any case remain tax payers - even when they go into a care home for their final years they are paying tax on the capital from their house if they sell it to fund their care.

Older people generally represent good value for society due to the number of valuable roles they perform. Most he says remain active until the last few years of their lives as evidenced in Dilnot's report. Older people provide high quality childcare to their grandchildren (indeed some are full time kinship carers), often they care for their spouses or other relatives and also keep an eye on older and infirm neighbours. Usually these older people who make an active contribution up to the final years of their lives don't actually enter a care home, if at all, until the last couple of years of their lives.

An organisation that promotes a positive view and recognition of older people's contribution is WRVS who emphasise the positive value that older people give to society. According to Lynne Berry OBE Chief Executive of WRVS, in 2010 over 65s "made an astonishing net contribution of £40 billion to the UK economy", in terms of taxes, spending power, the value of both paid work and their volunteering. By 2030, this figure is estimated to grow to £77 billion.

Ms Berry said: "We believe older people are a foundation which provides a positive economic contribution and social glue to the country. And with this report, we're showing how they're doing it already. Together, let's make Britain a great place to grow old."

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