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Our voices: the experiences of people ageing without children
- Authors:
- BETH JOHNSON FOUNDATION, AGEING WITHOUT CHILDREN
- Publishers:
- Beth Johnson Foundation, Ageing Without Children
- Publication year:
- 2016
- Pagination:
- 40
- Place of publication:
- Stoke-on-Trent
This report details the experiences of people over 50 years old who are ageing without children and highlights the key themes and issues that affect them. This includes adults who have never had children, as well as parents who have become childless through bereavement, or those who are estranged from their children. The report is based on four focus groups attended by a total of 42 people, including four people from an all-male focus group and nine people from the LGBT community. It also draws on discussions on social media and the results of a 2015 Ageing with Children survey. The individual stories included in the report demonstrate that ageing without children is what could be described as a ‘wicked problem’, a problem that is difficult to solve because of incomplete, contradictory, and changing requirements. It identifies 6 key themes affecting people ageing without children: invisibility; being judged; "who will tell my story?”; being a carer for their own parents as a trigger point to recognising the problems they may face; practical support; and disconnect from other generations. It puts forward a number of solutions to the issue, including: for central government to take into account that increasing numbers of people will get old without family support; enable GPs, hospitals and social care services to identify people without family and to provide them with support or care at an early stage; investment in advocacy and intergenerational projects; better access to advice to help plan for later life; more education and training to service providers working directly with older people; and a campaign for the National Census to collect childlessness data for men; and increasing social awareness of the issue of ageing without children. It also makes recommendations for future research. (Edited publisher abstract)