Can we make an age friendly uk- open letter to Andy Burnham

 

 We hope that you will soon by our new Prime Minister

One early win which ticks a lot of your stated aims is to draw on another Manchester success story, which does not get enough attention, namely Manchester as the leading UK’s Age Friendly city.

May I ask you to spread that vision of an age friendly and age diverse environment  across the UK.

Both seniors ( over 50s and pensioners) and youth ( children and young people up to 25) have large numbers of  people facing exclusion, discrimination and poverty. Long term unemployment is highest among over 60s and there are nearly a million young NEETs. Generations in the same household, often in deprived areas, continue the cycle of unemployment, misery and depression  and so live under or near the poverty line. Where heads of households are unemployed this often lead to their children and grand children facing the same  fate.

The lack of free public spaces – libraries , community and leisure centres – impact disproportionality on young and old alike for whom these facilities, along with trained expert staff, are key to personal development and community cohesion. Properly maintained parks offer places to relax, enjoy, share positive passtimes and be healthy. These are public spaces and facilities which take young people off the streets, give them meaning and out of crime, and where social isolation and loneliness among seniors can be reduced and the overall levels of human interaction and happiness can be increased.

This requires you to offer leadership and inspiration as well as resource re-allocation to local cities and towns across the UK, in the forgotten places of the North, Midlands, Wales, Scotland in particular.

It also means drawing on your experience of building civic partnerships with community organisations representing seniors and youth alike. It brings focus on the need for local community led initiatives properly resourced to reverse the neo liberal emphasis on the richest and global corporations, and replaces it with an emphasis on making everyone, but particularly the poorest and most deprived better off in both their private and public lives.

Wise Age have been promoting positive inclusive age diversity, age friendly environments and intergenerational solidarity for many years  in partnership with  the London Age Friendly forum, the Age Active Alliance, EngAgeNet and other  age related organisations and networks across  the UK for getting on for 20 years now. During this time we and older people have faced barriers, blockages, ignorance and indifference.

We really hope you can shine the beacon  of hope  in the coming months and can assure you that there will be thousands of us willing to help in any way we can to make the UK truly age friendly for old and young alike.

Best wishes

Chris Walsh

Chief Executive

Wise Age Ltd

www.wiseage.org.uk

Can younger people and seniors be friends?

 After the new report submitted to the  government about the million and rising  NEETs  it is likely that quite rightly there will be more resources allocated to providing further support and opportunities for young people to gain qualifications, apprenticeships and employment.

However the risk is that seniors ( 50+ including pensioners)  who are long term unemployed or who are part of the million plus Economically Inactive  older population ( those needing and seeking work but not in receipt of unemployment pay or support from DWP) will lose out on the meagre support and access to training and employment currently offered.

There is a widespread myth that older people are job blocking younger ones when in fact companies that retain and / or hire older staff and have an age diverse workforce offer greater opportunities for younger ( under 25)people to gain employment.

UK and EU wide research shows that when companies make older people redundant they do not ( and often cannot) offer young people those vacancies as they are not yet able to carry out the level of skilled work required, instead it is a downsizing operation which usually just leads to core age working people( 25- 49) having to shoulder extra workloads. 

There is a virtuous circle in age diverse staff, with seniors able to support, train, guide and mentor newly recruited younger staff enabling them to understand and apply the requirements of the job and the company. Also companies with age diverse staff have found that their productivity, profitability and staff retention all increase.Younger people bring new skills, social media awareness and innovative ideas into the workplace, while seniors offer experience, skills and an understanding of work culture to the mutual benefit of all and the company itself.

There are similar problems for the young and old alike in terms of poverty, lack of training and employment opportunities resulting from ageism as well as the closure of public services required by both ( libraries, community centres, well maintained parks and leisure facilities). There is a similar division of class and wealth so that while there maybe 25% senior millionaires, half of pensioners are near or below the poverty line (especially carers and single older women), while the only younger people able to start buying their own home are the children of the already wealthy.

The impact of senior unemployment is such that their family members are also likely to be unemployed.

This is why the charity Wise Age Ltd ( www.wiseage.org.uk) along with Age Platform Europe and our partners embrace the approach of Intergenerational Solidarity

Chaning the Narrative on ageing

 Hi 

Wise Owler is back up and blogging,  on behalf of myself  not as a formal representative of Wise Age but will include time to time  promotion of wise age activities when they take place .

Yesterday as a member of the London Age Friendly forum I was able to listen to and talk with Paul McGarry, Head of Greater Manchester Ageing Hub,.

    During his excellent conversation he raised the issue that we in the age movement need to Change the Conversation' around age.

  This reminded me of the importance of the 'Silver Economy' in relation to economic growth and inclusivity. There seems to be a  gap in the minds of National, Regional and local government of the key  role that older people play both in terms of  economic and social production and consumption.

Over 70% of over 50s up to state retirement age  are in employment, often in key roles in management, in health and social care, finance, Universities, education, housing and other public services as well as in large corporations, SMEs and the voluntary sector. Even after state retirement age there are over 1.2 million pensioners in the UK still working or in self employment.

We are crucial in the implementation of growth strategies yet hardly feature in senior strategic and policy decision making. Besides our role as workers older people, especially older women play a major role in caring for those in need of care, children, grandchildren and our parents, as well as the wider community. Meanwhile the voluntary and community sector would fall apart if it were not for older ( often pensioner) people   did not give their time, expertise and commitment to being volunteers.

In addition the silver economy is made up of the tens of millions of we 50+  many of whom have more disposable income than younger people and act as a dynamic force for consumer driven growth. There are whole sectors and environments now dependent on older consumers, viz tourism, health and leasure  and even including IT - as we are the ones buying the new technology both for ourselves and our families.

Woe betide any employer who  ignores this consumer group or who does not understand the benefits of having and age diverse workforce.

Yet still the focus on government at all levels is predominantly on youth- who while also suffering from ageism have less to offer than older people as workers and consumers. The argument around older people is nearly always around the Supply side, of how to get more people back into work while ignoring the clear and real problem of  the Demand side- the institutional ageism of employers and recruitment agencies which is cited by over half of older people seeking employment as the biggest barrier.

The other  mistake made by Ministers, including the departments of Work and Pensions, Health, Education and Skills, plus the Mayors of London, boroughs and other cities is to see older people only as a burden, in terms of health and social care, when in fact the vast majority of older people are active both as cosumers and producers plus the skills they offer, of experience, wisdom, social skills and commitment  are often ignored despite the urgent need to fill skilled labour market gaps.

So my message to decision makers, government, and employers is simple. There is an enormous untapped labour and consumer market which is embraced and supported - along with younger people- could bring the growth and redistribution of income and wealth so urgently needed

Will it be a happy year?

 A very belated Happy New Year or should it be hope we see out 2025 in one piece. 

As a baby boomer I have spent a lot of my life believing that progressive changes was both happening and possible.

Now I am left hoping that things can just stay as they are and not get worse, but realising that means fighting hard against the tide of reaction, lies and even neo fascism. After hoping that we would wake up to a better more equal fair world we are facing a return to feudalism and rabid nationalism with our new overlords being the billionaires now not just scooping up the worlds wealth and resources but increasing control over the media and now government.

But maybe because I am an optimist I see that there is incrwasing resistance to this and a blossoming of humanity, humanism, scientific and medical progress and an understanding that there is a majority of people who are still basically cooperative and caring.

So in this spirit of hope I want to try to facilitate older people engaging with each other and younger generations  to learn lessons from our past to help us overcomethese rising tides of reaction which our own parents succeeded in overcoming 

 Welcome to 2025, or rather good luck, as it seems like a year with may problems ahead.

This is my personal blog and does not represent wise age but it does reflect my knowledge, experience and commitment towards informing  people about the problems faced and the benefits offered by older people ( 50+) and tries to represent older people's interests in matters and debates around age and ageism.

Firstly a big up for the contribution we older people make to the economy and society, which is often overlooked in the media and Parliament where the costs and problems of an ageing society are discussed.

Up to State Retirment Age there are over 70% of over 50s in employment or self employment, offering our wisdom and experience to business and staff alike. There would be more ( 10% more under 50s are in employment) if it were not for the ageism from employers and especially recruitment agencies , feeding on myths and prejudices widely spread by the media.

After SRA there are still over 1.2 million people in work, though many are part time. The reasons for this are both because many people want to and enjoy their work but more because they are forced to through economic necessity.

On top of this fgure over 50% of all carers ( mostly but not exclusively women) are over 50, many either on  very limited carers allowance or totally unpaid. They care for their children, dsabled members of their fmilies, grandchildren and also their own parents or partners.

Finally those who are retired make up the bulk of volunteers and without them the majority of voluntary agencies and charities would fold.

More positive news about older working people and the problems we face later

 

Trying to restart my wiseager blog on a free site blogger.com

 back again after being ripped off by wix, which has tried to charge me £240 renewal and yet did not help me promote my blog. Back here and hoping for a better deal and help  in promoting my blogs which are a combination of age related info and support plus a way of both spreading whatever my thoughts are about life now plus a little social relaxation around my life and pets. Hope you will enjoy some of what i publish. Hers my wonderful, gentle dog

 It is really hard to avoid doomscrolling at the moment as there is so much terrible news and ongoing genocide and ethnic cleansing, but for my own and close family and friend sake  it seems necessary to only keep abreast of events to keep motivating oneself to continue to protest, write and support demonstrations and resistance movements. On the other hand it seems necessary to also focus on positive news and to try and live and enjoy the here and now. Without hope it is hard to stay personally optimistic or to encourage others to 'keep on trucking' to use the old Fabulous Freak brothers mantra.

So I have been encouraged by the return of a few different species of butterfly, a few more plaaces around us where the sound of daytime cicadas can be heard and even in early Summer a few frogs still crying out for mates in the basin of a friend's garden. 

While knowing that the Democrats can hardly be called socialist or radical at least they have a couple of candidates who are to the left of the party, offer improvement in the lives of ordinary Americans and hopefully see off the Trump MAGA racist neofascist wave. only can only hope that if they win then maybe just maybe they can bring an end to the genocide and  ethnic cleansing of Palestinians. In the mean time bit by bit the horror of Gaza is forcing some companies to stop their embrace and arming of the Israeli government and there is some hope that we and France will be forced to stop arming the IDF's offensive