There will be enough pensioners in the UK by 2066 to fill a city the size of London

The number of pensioners in the UK will be enough to fill a city the size of London after increasing by almost 9million within the next 50 years.

Extraordinarily, the number of people aged over 65 will jump by nearly 50 per cent to more than 20million by 2066, according to the Office for National Statistics.

The largest increase will be in the over-85s age group – which is projected to more than treble.

But leading charities have warned that the pensioners will have to face the problem of a ‘chronically underfunded’ social care system, the Telegraph reported.

Despite the growth in the numbers of over 65s, the proportion of people aged between 16 to 64 is only predicted to grow by just 5 per cent.

A huge increase in pensioners over the next 50 years could fill a city the size of London

Rural areas will be hit particularly hard by the demographic changes, as they already have the highest proportion of older people. 

This is expected to rise by 50 per cent – while the number of young people living there is not expected to surge at all.

Baroness Ros Altmann, a Tory peer and former pensions minister, said we must do our utmost to care for elderly folk living in rural areas.

She said: ‘We have to ask – who is going to be caring for the huge increasing number of older people in rural areas, where the numbers of younger people are not increasing? We have not planned for it.

‘We also need to find a way to pay for care. Lots of people think the NHS will look after them and do not know how unfair and inadequate the system is.

The largest increase will be in the over-85s age group which is expected to more than treble 

The largest increase will be in the over-85s age group which is expected to more than treble 

‘Even if they get some for of care, it will not be what they would want – in the same way they would not just want to rely on the state pension for their retirement.’

The ONS have warned that old people are at risk of feeling more alienated from society.

They said: ‘Older people arguably experience more barriers to feeling connected to the world in which they live than younger people, potentially increasing their sense of isolation,’ it said.

‘Older people are more likely to have difficulties accessing services such as GPs, hospitals, banks or post offices, particularly if they are reliant on public transport. Distances to these services may have increased with the closure of local facilities.’ 



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