The rising cost of living longer

Philip Barron looks at some of the problems and possible solutions

by Philip Barron 15th October 2009

In 1948 life expectancy in the UK was sixty-six for men and seventy-one for women. Now the national average is seventy-seven for men and eighty-two for women. For the first time, there are more people over the age of sixty-five than there are under eighteen.  While the fact that more people are living longer due to advances in medical science may be something to celebrate, it does put huge pressures on existing care services and radical reforms are needed.