Leading think tank finds one in ten aged over 85 have no friends

One in ten people aged over 85 say they have no friends and over a quarter are dissatisfied with their lives, according to a new survey.

The study 'Understanding Society', carried out by the Personal Finance Research Centre (PRFC) and ILC-UK, reveals preliminary findings about the ‘oldest old’ (aged over 85) and their levels of participation, wellbeing and health.

This new analysis, funded by the ESRC’s Secondary Data Analysis Initiative, also found around a third of over 85s said they were at least partly dissatisfied with their health, while over three-quarters (78 per cent) of the oldest old felt their health limited even moderate activities, and about a half felt pain had interfered with their activities over the past few weeks.

David Sinclair, assistant director, policy and communications at ILC-UK added: “This research paints a negative picture of life for far too many people aged over 85.

“The research backs up ILC-UK’s analysis of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing last year which found that almost four in ten of those aged 85 or older faced some kind of social exclusion. Similarly, our research on centenarians published in December 2011 found that quality of life among the oldest old decreases with age and that the oldest old (aged 85 and over) are, as a group, at greater risk of poverty than younger older people (aged 65-85).

“Bereavement and loneliness is a feature of later life for many. Whilst our new research highlights that over eight in ten of the oldest old could rely on family ‘a lot’, more than one in ten reported not having any friends. Tackling loneliness and isolation in old age has to become a societal priority.”

David Hayes, research associate at PFRC, also called for more to be done to support this age group and said: “This research is extremely important as we know relatively little about the experiences of those aged over 85. Yet this group represents the fastest growing sector of the UK population.

“With around one in four over 85s at least somewhat dissatisfied with their lives, (much higher than in the general population), policymakers need to devote more time to the issues facing this group.”

PRFC and ILC-UK plan to extend analysis of 'Understanding Society' to look at the financial wellbeing of the oldest old.

The results of the project will be presented at several national and international conferences over the coming months.

'Understanding Society' presents exciting new opportunities for those studying the oldest old, as it is one of the few datasets to provide a representative sample of the population aged 85 and above across the UK.

A new blog detailing the findings will made available on the ILC-UK website at www.ilcuk.org.uk and the PFRC website.