Older People in Wales This paper presents figures from the 2001 Census of Population about the characteristics of older people living in Wales. It is mostly concerned with information about older people and the circumstances in which they live. Older people are defined here as those aged 50 and over in line with the Welsh Assembly Government’s Strategy for Older People in Wales. October 2003 Members’ Research Service / Gwasanaeth Ymchwil yr Aelodau Members’ Research Service: Research Paper Gwasanaeth Ymchwil yr Aelodau: Papur Ymchwil Older People in Wales Graham Winter October 2003 Paper number: 03/0110/gw © Crown copyright 2004 Enquiry no: 03/0110/gw Date: 14 December 2004 This document has been prepared by the Members’ Research Service to provide Assembly Members and their staff with information and for no other purpose. Every effort has been made to ensure that the information is accurate, however, we cannot be held responsible for any inaccuracies found later in the original source material, provided that the original source is not the Members’ Research Service itself. This document does not constitute an expression of opinion by the National Assembly, the Welsh Assembly Government or any other of the Assembly’s constituent parts or connected bodies. Members’ Research Service: Research Paper Gwasanaeth Ymchwil yr Aelodau: Papur Ymchwil Executive Summary ♦ There were about 1.04 million people in Wales aged 50 and over in 2001, equivalent to about 36% of the total population of Wales. There were about 241,000 people aged 75 and over in Wales in 2001, equivalent to about 8% of the total population. The mean age is highest in Electoral Divisions in parts of mid- Wales and coastal parts of west and north Wales (Section 3). ♦ For those aged 50 and over the proportion who were of Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) origin was about 1%. For those aged 75 and over, only about 0.5% were of BME origin. Despite these low proportions, there were almost 4,000 pensioners living in Wales in 2001 who were of BME origin. A slightly larger proportion of people of pensionable age in Wales were born in England (about 23%) compared with the population as a whole (20%) (Section 4). ♦ Just over one quarter of all households in Wales were households comprised only of people of pensionable age in 2001, a total of about 310,000 households. The Electoral Divisions with the largest numbers of pensioner households were mostly in the urban areas of south Wales and parts of the valleys as well as in the coastal part of north Wales. (Section 5). ♦ A number of pensioners and those aged over 75 were classified as living in Lone Parent Families. This probably reflects households where at least one child has remained at home to care for an ageing parent (Section 6). ♦ For people aged 50 and over about 89% lived in a house or bungalow, with about 8% living in a flat; maisonette or apartment and about 2% in a communal establishment. The proportion living in a house or bungalow decreases with age (Section 7). ♦ For people aged 50 and over about 54% lived in a property that they owned outright in 2001 and 23% lived in a property they owned with a mortgage or loan. The level of owner occupation amongst older people is slightly greater than for the population as a whole (Section 8). ♦ For people aged 50 and over about 8% (81,000) lived in a property without central heating. This is above the average proportion for the population as a whole. The Electoral Divisions with the largest numbers of people of pensionable age living in a property without central heating were mostly in Cardiff, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Caerphilly, Cardiff, Swansea and Conwy (Section 9). ♦ In general a larger proportion of older people in Wales were living in under-occupied conditions than was the case for the population as a whole. This may partly reflect the fact that in some areas older people are still living in larger family homes (Section 10). Members’ Research Service: Research Paper Gwasanaeth Ymchwil yr Aelodau: Papur Ymchwil ♦ A slightly above average proportion of older people were living above ground floor level. This is probably a reflection of the higher proportion of older people living in a flat; maisonette or apartment (Section 11). ♦ As would be expected, overall general health deteriorates with age, whilst illness generally increases (Section 12). ♦ Access to a car or van in the household declines with age. A third of pensioners do not have access to a car or van (Section 13). ♦ There were about 40,000 people in Wales living as residents in Communal Establishments at the time of the 2001 Census. More than half of these people were aged 50 and over and almost all of them had a limiting long-term illness and were of pensionable age. The Electoral Divisions with the largest numbers of people of pensionable age living in Medical and Care Communal Establishments were mostly in Swansea, Cardiff, Conwy, Vale of Glamorgan and Carmarthenshire (Section 14). Members’ Research Service: Research Paper Gwasanaeth Ymchwil yr Aelodau: Papur Ymchwil Contents 1 Scope of the paper ............................................................................................... 1 2 Total Population by age ....................................................................................... 2 3 Ethnic Origin/Country of Birth/Religion.............................................................. 3 4 Households........................................................................................................... 4 5 Family Type........................................................................................................... 5 6 Accommodation type ........................................................................................... 6 7 Tenure ................................................................................................................... 7 8 Amenities .............................................................................................................. 8 9 Occupancy Rating................................................................................................ 9 10 Floor of accommodation.................................................................................... 10 11 Health .................................................................................................................. 11 12 Car Ownership.................................................................................................... 12 13 Communal Establishments................................................................................ 12 Members’ Research Service: Research Paper Gwasanaeth Ymchwil yr Aelodau: Papur Ymchwil Older People in Wales 1 Scope of the paper This paper presents figures from the 2001 Census of Population about the characteristics of older people living in Wales. It is mostly concerned with information about older people and the circumstances in which they live. Older people are defined here as those aged 50 and over in line with the Welsh Assembly Government’s Strategy for Older People in Wales1. The paper compares the characteristics of people aged 50 and over, people of pensionable age2 and people aged 75 and over with the total population living in Wales. Where appropriate the paper also looks at where the largest numbers of older people are living in Wales in a series of maps and tables at the Electoral Division level. The topics presented here are as follows: Section 2: Population by Age Section 3: Ethnic Origin, Country of Birth and Religion Section 4: Households Section 5: Family Type Section 6: Accommodation type Section 7: Tenure Section 8: Amenities Section 9: Occupancy Rating Section 10: Floor of Accommodation Section 11: Health Section 12: Car Ownership Section 13: Communal Establishments 1 The Strategy for Older People in Wales, Welsh Assembly Government, January 2003 http://www.wales.gov.uk/subisocialpolicy/content/older/older-people-final-e.pdf 2 Men aged 65 and over and women aged 60 and over 1 Members’ Research Service: Research Paper Gwasanaeth Ymchwil yr Aelodau: Papur Ymchwil 2 Total Population by age There were about 1.04 million people in Wales aged 50 and over in 2001. This was about 36% of the total population of Wales. For England and Wales together the equivalent proportion was about 33%. There were about 580,000 people of pensionable age in Wales in 2001, equivalent to about 20% of the total population. For England and Wales together the equivalent proportion was about 18%. There were about 241,000 people aged 75 and over in Wales in 2001, equivalent to about 8% of the total population. For England and Wales together the equivalent proportion was about 6%. Table 1 shows a break down by age and sex for older people in Wales. Table 1 : Older People in Wales Age Group Males Females All People % of total Population 50-54 103,267 105,079 208,346 7.2% 55-59 87,518 89,324 176,842 6.1% 60-64 75,175 77,749 152,924 5.3% 65-74 123,551 140,640 264,191 9.1% 75-84 72,097 110,105 182,202 6.3% 85+ 15,799 42,582 58,381 2.0% All aged 50+ 477,407 565,479 1,042,886 35.9% All aged 60+ 286,622 371,076 657,698 22.7% All pensionable age 211,447 371,076 582,523 20.1% All aged 75+ 87,896 152,687 240,583 8.3% All ages 1,403,782 1,499,303 2,903,085 Source: Census of Population, 2001 Office for National Statistics Crown Copyright Figure 1 shows the age structure of Wales compared with that of the UK for Males and Females. The figure shows that in general there were slightly lower proportions of younger people and slightly higher proportions