Many older women experience glaring inequalities says new Age UK report

More than one third of women aged 50+ (36%) 4.1 million in England have experienced discrimination on the grounds of their age, sex or race

52% of women aged 50+ in the UK – 7.3 million – are concerned about accessing a GP 

Older women who are carers, on low incomes or from minority groups especially likely to experience inequalities 

“Too many older women are clearly living less well than they could and should, and social justice demands that we change this for the better.”  Caroline Abrahams, Charity Director at AGE UK 

Sabrina’s health conditions mean she struggles to use technology. “My GP and surgery receptionists always direct me to use an e-consult, which I can’t use, and I have to explain this every time I call. The NHS often tells you to go to a website to book an appointment, but I don’t have a computer, so I can’t book or do online digital appointments.”

Today, Age UK lays bare the ongoing gender inequalities in society facing many older women, with new analysis in the areas of ageism, loneliness and the digital world. In a report,

In a report, “Older women in the UK" published today, the Charity argues that contrary to the belief that we are well on the way to overcoming gender inequalities, for many older women they remain firmly in place. This is especially the case for those on low incomes and from minority groups. Furthermore, the lives of those older women who are carers are often particularly bleak. 

This year there will be 14 million older women¹ aged 50+ living in the UK, making up over half (53%) of the population in this age group. ¹ By 2045, population projections indicate there will be 2.8 million more women aged over 50, with the most substantial increases amongst women aged 70 and older.¹  

The report highlights that when it comes to health and wellbeing, older women are more likely than men to have a disability, long term physical health problems including conditions such as dementia, and to experience mental health issues. Women may live longer on average, but sadly in many cases, those extra years are spent in ill-health. 

At age 65 women can expect half (53%) of their remaining years of life to be in poor health, and as they get older that proportion increases. Women aged 90+ can expect two thirds (67%) of the years they have left to be in poor health.

The report confirms that many women start to experience a decline in their heath pre-retirement, in mid-life, when long term conditions start to emerge, especially among less advantaged women such as those from minoritised communities or who live in disadvantaged areas.  

In recent Age UK research , a third (33%) of women reported that their health had worsened in the past year, compared to a quarter (25%) of men. Older women were also less likely to feel confident that their health will improve in the future than older men (9% compared to 12%). Large proportions of older women also reported they had less energy (49%), felt less steady on their feet (27%), couldn’t walk as far (37%), were in more physical pain (35%), felt more anxious (39%) and were less motivated to do things they enjoy (35%), compared to the previous year.

New Age UK research included in the report highlights the difficulties faced by older women in accessing health services: 

• 52% of women aged 50+ in the UK were concerned about accessing a GP, amounting to 7.3 million, compared to 41% of men (5.1 million). 

There are further health inequalities between ethnicities, which increase with age. Trajectories of poor health diverge from around the age of 40 for women of different ethnicities, with Pakistani and Bangladeshi women more likely to self-report bad or very bad health as early as in their 30s and 40s.¹⁰  

• By ages 50-64, one in five (22%) Bangladeshi women and one in six (16%) Pakistani women report bad health, compared to one in 12 (8%) White British women in the same age group.¹¹  
• From ages 65-74, women from all ethnic minorities are more likely to be in bad health than White British women, with older women of Bangladeshi and Pakistani heritage around three times as likely as White British women to report bad or very bad health.¹¹  

More older women have a disability in every age group above 50 compared to men.   

• Almost one third (30%) of women aged over 50 have a disability, equivalent to 3.3 million older women, compared to 2.6 million older men).¹²
• The proportion of women with a disability rises with age, and a higher proportion of women have a disability than men in every age group above 50.¹² 

More than a fifth (22%) of women aged 50+ are carers, equivalent to more than 3 million.  Our degraded social care system means more older women are likely to become carers for sick and disabled relatives, typically their ageing parents or partners, but sometimes other loved ones too.  Caring often has negative impacts on their health and wellbeing and also on their ability to keep working, undermining their current and future incomes.  

As regards income, women pensioners are significantly more likely to be poor than older men, especially if they live alone, as is the case for many following bereavement or divorce. In the run up to their State Pension age, older women are also more likely to be poorer than men. This is often due to ill-health, caring responsibilities and/or unemployment.  

In retirement, one of the biggest inequalities visible across all the data relates to private pension wealth, with older women far less likely to have a significant amount or any at all, in comparison to men. Although changing working patterns mean this inequality is slowly reducing, there are many women in late old age on very low incomes who are too old to benefit from the new State Pension that came into being some ten years ago. 

In all walks of life more and more of society is becoming ‘digital by default’. New research included in the report confirms that older women are less likely to be online, or to be confident and successful internet users than older men, the gap becoming more pronounced with age. This lack of digital skills also impacts their ability to access NHS and banking services. 

• Age UK analysis finds that 14% of women (1.2m) and 11% of men (850,000) aged 60+ never use the internet, with the proportion of people not using the internet, and the associated gender gap, increasing with age. At ages 75+ 23% of women and 14% men never use the internet. 
• When asked about why they don’t use the internet, more women than men said their IT skills are not good enough (41% compared to 34%).
• Other problems for older women are that they find the cost of devices such as a smartphone or tablet prohibitive (13% compared to 7% for men), that they do not think the internet is safe (35% compared to 25% for men), and that they worry about being scammed (54% compared to 47% for men). 

Discrimination is also a by no means uncommon experience for older women.  

• While analysis by Age UK shows that both older men and women are similarly likely to report having experienced ageism, older women were far more likely to report having experienced discrimination due to their sex (16% of women compared to 4% of men aged 50+). 
• In addition, almost half of older women from ethnic minorities reported experiences of discrimination due to their race or ethnicity (48% of ethnic minority women compared to 58% of ethnic minority men aged 50+). 
• More than one third of women aged 50+ (36%) have therefore experienced discrimination on the grounds of the age, sex or race, including nearly one in eight women aged 50+ (12%) who have experienced discrimination relating to at least two of these dimensions of their identity.

Policy 

To bring an end to these glaring inequalities while empowering older women, promoting their security and reducing the extent to which they are overlooked by policymakers, theCharity puts forward a series of policy recommendations in the report. These cover the following policy areas:ⁱ  

• Access to healthcare 
• Menopause 
• Carers 
• Financial Security 
• Pensions & Poverty 
• Digital 
• Domestic Abuse 
• Listening to the views and experiences of older women and responding more effectively. 

Caroline Abrahams, Charity Director at Age UK, said: 

“Some commentators suggest that women en masse are now doing so fabulously well in our society that it’s ‘job done’ so far as gender equality is concerned, but our new report shows that many older women still face inequality and exclusion in a wide range of ways, particularly if they are from some ethnic minorities, are unpaid carers, are widowed, single or divorced, are living on a low income or in a poor area.  

“Sexism and racism and other forms of discrimination combine with ageism to hold some older women back, with the result that the experience of being directly discriminated against for one reason or another is far more common among this group than most of us would probably assume. This is deeply unfair on all the older women impacted and it really does need to change.   

“Having looked at all the available data, we conclude that Pakistani and Bangladeshi older women are particularly in need of more policy attention and help because they are significantly left behind, especially on some health measures.”  

“Our new report contains a series of policy recommendations that we believe could improve older women's lives. Most often we urge action to help older men and older women, such as the establishment of a Commissioner for Older People in England, or more access to breaks for carers, but in doing so we recognise that older women are especially likely to gain. In a few policy areas we call for help to be targeted solely at older women, such as improvements in menopause training for clinicians, and redress for WASPI women in line with the recommendations made by the Ombudsman who comprehensively analysed their case. Of course, some men experience inequality too and our intention is to explore this in a subsequent report." 

“Some of the measures we suggest to improve older women’s lives require investment, but many don’t, and in other cases we urge progress over time rather than a ‘big bang’. Perhaps most important of all though, we call for a cultural change in our society, so older women no longer have cause to complain of being overlooked and ignored, as many currently do. Government needs to lead the way on this, and it has the tools to do so, but we all have a part to play.”  

STORY TELLERS.

Sabrina is 66 and lives alone in southeast London. Although she is now retired, Sabrina struggled when she was working due to severe osteoarthritis and vertigo attacks. These conditions have meant she struggles to use technology.

“Thankfully, I can always get through to my GP, and I’ve not had any problems getting appointments, but it’s always hard work. I am very confident and I’m always going to fight to get what I need, but I find you have to say the same things over and over and over again. My GP and surgery receptionists always direct me to use an e-consult, which I can’t use, and I have to explain this every time I call. The NHS often tells you to go to a website to book an appointment, but I don’t have a computer, so I can’t book or do online digital appointments.

I prefer to have face-to-face appointments because how can a doctor do tests over the phone? They need to be able to see you in front of them. I worry that other women who maybe aren’t as confident as me might get lost in the system. Consultants are often lovely, but sometimes they can be dismissive, patronising, or condescending. You need to be polite but forceful. I think men might not have the same issues that many women have to deal with.”

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 86-year-old widow Carole lives alone in social housing in Bournemouth. Life is already tough for Carole, as she is housebound due to her disabilities. On Friday she suffered an injury to her foot when she hit it against her wheelchair.

“I didn’t call the GP. There’s no point. You can never get through and actually speak to the doctor. On Wednesday, the district nurse visited, arranged before the accident, and noticed my foot was all bandaged up. She said it needed to be checked out, so contacted the hospital to refer me. Thankfully, the x-ray department called me and booked an appointment fairly easily. However, transport to the hospital is always a problem.

I have two choices; I can get a private taxi or use the NHS patient transfer service. A taxi is far too expensive at £20 for a return trip, so I have to book through the patient transfer service. I was on the phone to them for nearly an hour today, listening to the music, before they answered. Finally, they picked up the phone and booked my transfer for two hours before my 10 am appointment. I still can’t 100% relax, as they can be unreliable. Last time I used them, they didn’t turn up until ten minutes before my appointment, and then I have to wait for them to get me home after I’ve been seen. I likely won’t get home until the afternoon after being picked up at 8 am.”

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Notes to editors :

All references are in the Age UK  report -  link  “Older women in the UK"