Ageing population

• What is an ageing population?

  The population of a country that has an increasingly high proportion of older people.
• One cause of an ageing population in the UK

  Access to high quality healthcare e.g the NHS > NHS offers free healthcare services so more people can see a doctor when they are sick > older people can get treatment for common illness e.g flu jab > illnesses can be treated, resulting in a higher life expectancy so people live very long
• Another cause of an ageing population in the UK

  Decrease in birth rate > increase in gender equality means more women choose to focus on their careers > women are choosing to work rather than have children > less babies are born so birth rate declines, resulting in existing population getting older thus an ageing population
• One consequence of an ageing population in the UK

  NHS is under more pressure > increased amount of vulnerable elderly patients requiring treatments > elderly patients require more treatments due to having poor immune systems > less appointments available for younger people who‘ll now have longer wait times and few appointments available
• Another consequence of an ageing population in the UK


  Number of people receiving state pensions increases > government needs to budget more money for pensions > national insurance will have to increase fund state taxes > government may raise taxes for working age groups so they will have lower disposable incomes
• One response to the UK’s ageing population

  Government offers winter fuel allowance to people aged over 67>people may receive £600 in the winter when bills are very high and expensive> heating becomes more affordable to the vulnerable elderly who are more likely to become sick> elder would impact NHS less during winter since less sickness spread
• Another response to the UK’s ageing population


  State pension age increased from 66 to 68> people can work for longer which makes them able to fund their state pension through their taxes> less people would be receiving state pensions> other sectors like education and healthcare can be funded more from the state pension money