What is it?
If I asked you to imagine an older person, what image would come to mind? How old is old? What would this person look like? Where would they be situated? What would they be doing? And how many of these would be negative stereotypes about loneliness, frailty, ill-health and limitation?
In 2015 the John Lewis Christmas advert centred around a young girl who spots an old man living on the moon. The ad then follows her efforts to send him presents, eventually successfully delivering her gift of a telescope so they can both connect with each other on Christmas Day.
On the surface this ad (a partnership with Age UK) sends an important message that we need to make an effort to connect across generations to combat loneliness. But it also plays into some of the most pervasive stereotypes about ageing and older people. It places the ‘old man’ as a burden on younger generations, rather than a contributor, a resource and a connector.
Media portrayals of older people often fall into these four categories:
1. Frail and vulnerable (negative)
2. Mentors who are wise and experienced (positive)
3. Happy and affluent (positive but often exaggerated and unrealistic)
4. Active and leisure-oriented (positive but often exaggerated and unrealistic)
[Source: Centre for Better Ageing: Examining age-related stereotypes]
These stereotypes fail to reflect the diversity of experience, situation and circumstance. These representations not only contribute to ageism and age based discrimination. They also put pressure on older individuals to achieve idealised lifestyles that are out-dated and unrealistic.
Stereotypes of old age, whether positive or negative, do real harm in the real world, argues Lynne Segal, the author of “Out of Time: The Pleasures and the Perils of Ageing”. She says that the biggest problem for many older people is “ageism, rather than the process of ageing itself. .. We’re forced either to lament or to celebrate old age, rather than simply “affirm it as a significant part of life.”
Why should I care?
‘Dorothy Donor’. ‘Billy Boomer’. ‘Donor Dave’. These are all stereotypes of ‘older’ charity supporters. These stereotypes have been hanging around for decades and, in our view, are no longer (and never were) fit for purpose.
You may have an attitudinal supporter segmentation, but are you deploying it using a demographic sledgehammer? Are you at risk of grouping 12m people into a single ‘older’ segment?
We’ve sourced some of the most frequently occurring myths, assumptions and generalisations about older people from the last decade of projects we’ve worked on at Good Innovation. Plus we’ve crowd sourced some new ones from the GI team.
We think it’s time to myth bust some sector assumptions about older and ageing populations. We’ve researched them to understand what’s true, what’s false and how we can reframe our perspective in order to innovate on income and impact.
Kernel of Truth
Some stereotypes contain an element of truth. For example, we accumulate molecular and cellular damage over time. The impact of this damage can cause health issues and an increased risk of disease. But this doesn’t mean that all people of a certain age will experience health issues or a specific disease.
Stereotypes don’t see the variation or the individual experience. They can also lead us to exaggerate the size of a population or an outcome. (We touched on this previously in data storytelling - correlation doesn’t mean causation).
Why is this important? Because if we want to innovate to deliver impact, services and income, we need to know the right problems and gaps to target. What are the problems we really need to solve? And should we be investing upstream or downstream to have the greatest impact? When funding is limited, do you go for short term interventions, or invest for long term societal change?
Ageism
This isn’t just a challenge of marketing or fundraising. Ageism - the stereotypes (how we think), prejudice (how we feel) and discrimination (how we act) towards others or oneself based on age - affects everyone.
The WHO reported that children as young as 4 years old can be aware of their culture’s age stereotypes. “From that age onwards they internalise and use these stereotypes to guide their feelings and behaviour towards people of different ages. They also draw on culture’s age stereotypes to perceive and understand themselves, which can result in self-directed ageism at any age. Ageism intersects and exacerbates other forms of disadvantage including those related to sex, race and disability.”
What age is 'old'?
When we canvassed the Good Innovation team this ranged from ‘50s to 80ish to ‘age is just a state of mind’ (thanks Andrew).
‘In much of the rich world 65 still marks the beginning of old age. Jobs end, subsidised bus travel begins and people start to be seen as a financial burden rather than an asset to the state … words like ‘old’ and ‘retired’ signal to policymakers, as well as to old people themselves, how they ought to behave and be treated by governments, businesses and employers.’ [The Economist]
According to a YouGov report from 2018, the older you are, the later "old" gets. Perceptions of when "young" ends and "middle age" and "old" begin are influenced by a person’s own age. Generally speaking, the younger people are the earlier they place the boundaries for each of the stages.
When you're young, you always feel that life hasn't yet begun—that "life" is always scheduled to begin next week, next month, next year, after the holidays—whenever. But then suddenly you're old and the scheduled life didn't arrive. You find yourself asking, 'Well then, exactly what was it I was having—that interlude—the scrambly madness—all that time I had before?
Douglas Coupland, Life After God
Old = Ill
One of the biggest stereotypes we’ve seen is that old = ill and in need of care. Of the 12m people over the age of 65 in the UK, 1.2m are in statutory care, and 3m in informal care. That leaves 7.8m with no or limited care needs. That’s 65% of over 65s.
Diving into the stat a bit deeper, a 2019 report from Age UK showed the 80% of people under 80 have no care needs (help with activities of daily living) and even the group with most care needs (85+ years old) is above 60% with no need for help with the essential activities of daily living.
Alzheimers or Dementia is an Inevitability
Although it’s normal for brainpower to decline as people age, it’s not inevitable. Some people remain cognitively sharp into their 80s, 90s, and beyond, defying the common assumption that cognitive decline is a natural part of ageing.
The biggest risk factor for dementia is age – the older you are the more likely you are to develop the condition, but it is not an inevitable part of ageing. About two in 100 people aged between 65 to 69 have dementia, and this figure rises to one in five for those aged between 85 to 89.
Social factors play a key role in cognitive decline. A study from Northwestern University found cognitive super-agers reported more friends and family connections, a finding that builds on past research showing links between psychological well-being and lower risk of Alzheimer’s.
It’s also a common misconception that dementia is a condition of older age. Over 42,000 people under 65 years old have dementia in the UK. [Dementia Stats Hub]
You get more conservative as you get older
In Britain, age has previously been a strong predictor of how someone will vote in an election. Older people are more supportive of the Conservatives, while younger people more supportive of Labour, the Liberal Democrats, and more recently, the Greens.
‘If history repeats itself, then as people get older they will turn to the Conservatives. Our evidence suggests that this is probably not due to “social ageing” (getting married, having children or an increasing income), but rather to the direct psychological processes of ageing that tend to make people more resistant to change. This, in turn, makes people gravitate towards parties that defend the status quo.’ [The Guardian]
Older people voted for Brexit
On the surface, over-65s were more than twice as likely as under-25s to have voted Leave. However this is a prime example of the implications of lumping a massive 40-year age group together as one homogenous group. The war generation (77-94 years old) have the most positive attitude towards the EU. Only trumped by Millennials.
National identity was a powerful influencer in voting. People who identified as British opted for remaining, while the people who identified as English were strong supporters of Brexit. 44% of over 65s think of themselves as English but only 21% of the under 26s think this way. Perceptions of being English increase with age, and this is one of the reasons why older people supported Brexit..
Turnout also plays a part. Older people are more likely to turnout for elections compared to younger people. 90% of those over 65 turned out to vote. VS 64% for 18-24 year-olds.
Older people don’t believe in climate change
The debate on climate change is often held up as a narrative of intergenerational difference, with older people viewed as bringing high levels of consumption across their lifetime and being largely apathetic to the issues of climate change. However, contrary to this, a 2010 British attitudes survey found that 68% of 55-65s are either very or fairly concerned about climate change. And a 2021 ONS survey found that 74% of over 70s are worried about climate change and are making lifestyle changes to tackle it.
The narrative on climate change is an example of how media misrepresentation can create a ‘fake generational war’ pitching young eco warriors against capitalist boomers, when in fact older generations are just as worried about the issue. ‘Time magazine stoked the flames by naming Greta Thunberg their person of the year in 2019, for being a “standard bearer in a generational battle” [The Guardian].
Loneliness is a problem of ageing
Remember the old man on the moon? The stereotypical image of a lonely, elderly person. Well it turns out that young people are more lonely than older people. A 2018 survey found that 40% of respondents aged 16-24 reported feeling lonely often or very often, while only 29% of people aged 65-74 and 27% of people aged over 75 said the same.
This is not to say that many older people don’t experience intense feelings of loneliness, and that younger people may have more resources and technology at easy access to start to take action. However the stereotype of the lonely, elderly person may cause us to overlook loneliness in other age groups.
The myth that is ‘retirement’
“The retirement concept was only invented in the early 20th century anyway, so in a sense you’re talking about something that has got a relatively new history.” Dr Eliza Filby (who’ll be speaking at our safari on the future of ageing).
The number of people aged over 70 who are still working in full- or part-time employment has more than doubled in a decade to nearly half a million - an increase of 135% since 2009. “Many are actively looking to top up their pension savings while they still can but there is also a growing understanding of the many health and social benefits that come with working into retirement.” Stuart Lewis from Rest Less
34% of the gig economy is made up of retirees. [Independent]
I don’t believe in retirement, I really don’t. I just believe in different chapters, different phases. I don’t believe in waiting for life to happen. I believe in doing it now!
Older people have lots of time on their hands
Alongside continuing to hold down full or part-time roles, an increasing number of older people who would have been traditionally seen as approaching retirement, are exploring entrepreneurship. In 2019, roughly 25% of new entrepreneurs were between 55 and 64, up from 15 percent 20 years earlier. [New York Times]
Add to this the implications of the ageing sandwich generation. When the term was coined, it generally referred to people in their 30s and 40s. Now the sandwich generation has grown older and deeper. People in their 50s, 60s and 70s are caring for their elderly parents, needy adult children and lively grandchildren.
A third of the UK’s 6.5 million informal carers are aged 65 and over, while the number of those aged 75 and over has increased by 35% since 2001. [Age UK]
Older people don’t take risks
A study has shown that—contrary to popular belief—older people make riskier decisions than younger adults. Older people’s generally more positive emotions make them more optimistic when gauging risks. In addition, older adults are less deterred by the risk of losses than younger adults are. [Study from the Max Planck Institute for Human Development and published in the journal Psychological Science.]
Older people don't 'do' technology
Of all the myths, this one came up time and time again, in a range of different guises. From ‘older people don’t trust technology’ to ‘they don’t use social media’ to the extreme of ‘older people only want analogue/paper comms’. It’s a massive myth to unpack. Let’s go.
According to 2019 ONS figures on internet users, almost half the UK population of people at 75 and over (47%) were recent internet users. The good news is that internet use in the 65-74 age group is increasing – it rose from 52% in 2011 to 83% in 2019.
But technological change and progress is constant, forcing people to adapt to the new. To generations born outside the internet age, this can bring challenges. According to the 2018 UK Consumer Digital Index, 8% of the UK population could perform zero out of five given digital tasks, with over 65s making up more than three quarters of those (76%). Tasks included:
1. create something new from existing online images, music or video or audio,
2. solve a problem you have with a device or digital service using online help,
3. verify sources of information you found online,
4. buy and install an apps on a device and
5. download/save a photo you found online.
While many older people are extremely tech-savvy, we know that those in later life are less likely to be online than younger people. In 2019, of the 4 million people in the UK who have never used the internet, 94% were aged 55 and over, 84% were over the age of 65, and 62% were over the age of 75.
‘Today we speak about a "digital divide" to describe the differences in the level of technology use by younger and older people. While it is true that older adults use digital technology less than younger generations, many are eager to learn.’ [Oxford Institute of Population Ageing]
Adoption of technology is not simply based on age. Adoption dependent on individual expectations (effort required for competence? benefits of effective performance?) as well as social influence and cost. However the biggest factor may well be ageism. Ageism influences the willingness of older audiences to use digital technologies (can’t do it; it’s not for me; waste of time trying).
'It is not uncommon to hear older people say that they do not believe they can learn how to use the Internet, or that they would be too worried about breaking such expensive devices to try and get the hang of them.'
Therefore digital inclusion strategies for older adults need to root out and challenge ageist misconceptions in older adults who are held back by them.
And finally.... finances and giving.
Older people have money to give to charity
Let’s confront this one head one. Yes the Boomer generation has historically been more well off - the first mass consumer generation. But they have never been as generous to charities as their predecessors - the war generation that was typified by Dorothy donor.
According to a 2018 Blackbaud report, Gen Z and Millennials are the most generous UK givers. ‘While similar percentages of each generational cohort are donors, Gen Zers and Millennials contributed the largest amount of money, giving £2.7 billion in 2017 and making up 30% of the total donated. Part of this has to do with the sheer size of this generation. At over 17 million residents, they are more than twice the size of the Mature generation.’
Add to this, we have a poverty crisis in the UK. The current escalation in cost of living is already, and will, bring serious hardship to people. A 2019 study found that the proportion of elderly people living in severe poverty in the UK was five times what it was in 1986. And an 2021 update from the DWP puts this number at over 2 million people.
A large part of this is down to our current system of state pension and a push towards reliance on private pensions to top up income. Add to this the rising cost of living and the future is looking increasingly bleak for all of us.
Thousands of renters could lose their homes in the coming months as the ban on evictions placed during the pandemic is lifted. 36% of London’s 55 to 64 year olds now rent their home, up from 29% ten years ago, and the trend is likely to continue. Finding money to cover rent from pensions whilst the cost of living skyrockets is going to be a challenge.
Where once it was possible to make incremental savings on fixed fuel tariffs, savvy purchasing and negotiating other regular costs like telephone and mobile bills, the rising cost of living is going to push more and more people into poverty.
Millions of households will be pushed into fuel poverty for the first time ever in 2022. The expected changes to the energy pay cap in October could see the cheapest fixed fee tariff for the average household change from £1200 per year (2020) to £4000 per year (2022). And the war in Ukraine is putting the squeeze on supply chains and will also have serious ramifications for 2022/3 harvests and food production.
So What?
Behind all these stereotypes and generalisations there is a core of truth that we can’t, and shouldn’t ignore. We aren’t saying all older people are internet savvy, skydiving socialites. But equally we shouldn’t shoehorn a segment of over 12 million people into one box of digitally excluded, lonely and infirm.
1. CHALLENGE - SEGMENTATION
Look past the generalisations and stereotypes to see the individual. None of us are defined by our age, gender, race, location, sexual orientation, hair colour or hot beverage preference. But too many briefs still rely on these features as segmentation for targeting and innovation. (Okay, maybe not the beverage part).
2. TAKE ACTION - AGEISM
Take action on ageism with these 5 start points:
1. Become an Old Person in Training
2. Tap into what we know: ageing enriches us
3. Look more generously at each other, and at ourselves
4. Make friends of all ages
5. Join forces
Read more here, from our friends at This Age Thing
3. REFRESH - YOUR IMAGE LIBRARY
Does your image library play into some of the stereotypes and generalisations we’ve listed above? Is it time for a refresh? The Centre for Ageing Better has developed an age-positive image library to tackle negative stereotypes of later life. Or tackle your social media stereotypes by following some granfluencers.