Nearly quarter of adults do not look forward to living longer

Negative perceptions of later life need to change as 23 per cent of adults are not looking forward to living longer, according to the charity Age UK.

A survey carried out by Age UK found nine out of ten (91 per cent) adults say something needs to be done to help us all lead a better later life.

The research, commissioned to understand more about people’s attitudes towards ageing and living longer, revealed over four out of five (83 per cent) adults believe negative perceptions of later life need to change.

Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK, said: “Age UK is passionate that everyone should have the opportunity to be able to make the most of later life, whatever their circumstances. Unfortunately, at the moment we know that many older people are not able to enjoy later life and we see it as a crucial part of our job at Age UK to do everything we can to change that through both our services and campaigning work. But we can’t do this alone, so it’s heartening and inspiring to see that so many people think changes and improvements need to be made.

“We hope that our new, more positive and more ambitious approach will help us to encourage people of all ages to get involved and support the cause through volunteering, campaigning and fundraising with us.”

It is not all doom and gloom though as the survey also found over half of adults (53 per cent) have a generally positive attitude towards ageing and that positive attitudes increase the older we get.

Over half (57 per cent) of those aged 55 and over have a positive attitude towards ageing and almost two thirds (63 per cent) of those aged between 55 and 64 view later life as a chance to ‘seize the moment’ and use these years to do all the things there hasn’t been time to do yet.

Age UK has launched a campaign to encourage people to think differently about getting older and demonstrate that older people have a valued role in society.

Its campaign, ‘Love later life’ kicks off with a TV advert featuring a poem written by one of Britain’s best-loved poets, Roger McGough.

Love later life has also attracted a number of celebrity figures with Alastair Stewart, Miriam Margolyes, Zoe Wanamaker, Pam St Clement, Lesley Joseph, Sir Roger Moore, June Whitfield, Barbara Windsor, Diana Moran, Christopher Biggins, Lionel Blair, Alison Steadman and Liz McClarnon all lending their support.

To find out more about Age UK and how to get involved, visit www.ageuk.org.uk/lovelaterlife. People can join the ‘Love later life’ conversation on Facebook and Twitter and share their stories and experiences using hashtag #lovelaterlife. -