Gender and Ageing Implications for Public Policy

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Gender and Ageing Implications for Public Policy

• Kate Jopling
• Senior Public Affairs Officer
• Help the Aged

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Challenges in public policy

• Demographic ageing is a key public policy
  challenge
• We have a new strategy for an ageing society
  but what kind of society?
• Already an estimated 7500 women over the age of
  100 and 5.5 million women over 65
• Women live longer life expectancy at birth is
  81.1 for women and 76.7 for men
• By 2025 the gap is closing, but women still live
  longer

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Challenges in public policy

• Differences in healthy life expectancy are less
  than differences in life expectancy overall 69
  for women and 66.6. for men
• Women have longer periods of ill health in later
  life
• Their health issues are different
• Do our health and care policies recognise this?
  How are they tackling this?

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Challenges in public policy

• The face of poverty in old age is female
• 22 of single female pensioners are in the bottom
  income quintile after housing costs, compared to
  14 single men
• Women pensioners are more likely to be in receipt
  of benefits than men
• Only 16 of women receive a full state pension in
  their own right
• Only 22 of women have occupational or personal
  pensions compared to 39 of men
• But do we acknowledge gender differences in our
  policy approaches?

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Challenges in public policy

• Older women are more likely to be unemployed or
  economically inactive 34 women 50, compared
  to 28 of men
• The Government wants us to work longer
• But is it making work work for women?

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Challenges in public policy

• Combating exclusion and isolation is a major
  public policy challenge
• 7 out of 10 women over 85 live alone compared to
  4 out of 10 men over 85
• But what about differences in modes of social
  contact?
• How does policy respond to the different needs of
  men and women?

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Challenges in public policy

• Is public policy designed to be ready?
• Probably not
• But there is hope.

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Opportunities in public policy

• New approaches in social care
• The Public Health White Paper
• New resolve on womens pensions
• An agenda for flexible working
• The work of the Social Exclusion Unit
• And
• The Commission for Equality and Human Rights

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Social Care key questions

• Women are the main users of social care services
• Whose needs do they meet? - does the day centre
  model work better for women than for men?
• What does this mean for commissioners?
• How can individual budgets help overcome the
  problems?

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Public Health key questions

• The White Paper is all about enabling individuals
  to choose health
• The Pennell Initiative for womens health
  demonstrated the need for a gendered approach to
  choosing health in later life
• But which gender is the prime concern men who
  die younger or women who live longer in ill
  health?
• How can we build an understanding of gender
  differences into the work to implement of the
  White Paper?

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Women and Pensions key questions

• A new resolve in Government to tackle the
  national scandal of womens pensions
• But women are already benefiting most from the
  flagship policy Pension Credit
• Does this mean means testing is OK for women
  longer term? If so what about men?
• Should we be crediting women for non-financial
  contributions or providing a universal basic
  income?
• Are the solutions gender specific or universal?

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Extending working lives key questions?

• The Government wants us to work longer
• Its creating pensions incentives, tackling age
  discrimination and considering flexible working
  for carers
• Its also reforming incapacity benefit
• But is the workplace ready for more part time,
  older, female workers?

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Social Exclusion key questions

• The Social Exclusion Unit is looking at how we
  tackle the broader issues of social isolation and
  being cut off from society.
• But who is at most risk? Older single women
  living alone, or the minority of men?
• How do we ensure community based responses cater
  for these different needs?

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The role of the new CEHR

• The new CEHR will draw together work across
  equality strands
• Gender Equality and Age Equality strands will be
  brought together
• A new focus on identifying issues and developing
  solutions
• Recognising diversity and promoting equality.
• BUT
• A very crowded agenda so what is the first
  priority?

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Discussion

• Who is being left behind by the lack of focus on
  gender differences?
• How can we add an understanding of gender
  differences to the policy debate?
• What are the priorities for the new CEHR?