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Context and defintion
Social exclusion of older people is a longstanding issue but one which for years received little media or political attention. This began to change in 2004 when the government’s Social Exclusion Unit (SEU), ( The SEU defined exclusion among older people as: ‘an experience characterised by deprivation and the lack of access to social networks, activities and services that result in poor quality of life’) which had hitherto focused on children and younger families, set up a study into how to improve the lives of socially excluded older people.
In their study report ‘A Sure Start to Later Life: Ending Inequalities for Older People’ (SEU, 2006) they document the multiple disadvantages many older people face.
Exclusion occurs when an older person lacks one or more of these factors:
- Good health
- Social relationships (contact with family and friends)
- Adequate income (including being able to afford household utilities and an annual holiday) Adequate housing
- Access to basic services (such as health services and shops)
- Access to financial products (such as a bank account and savings)
- Access to cultural activities (such as going to the cinema or theatre)
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Case study of social exclusion
Now you will see how exclusion affects the quality of life of an older person.
Read the case study and think about the dimensions on which Peter Brown is excluded.
‘Peter Brown is 69 and lives on a council estate in Manchester. He has limited contact with family and has no friends that live in the area and feels that “nobody cares about you anymore”. Ten years ago he left work to become a full-time carer to his mother. After his mother died, he was unable to find employment, and, as a result, has limited income. His neighbourhood is a source of stress, with his daily activities constrained by anxiety about street crime: “It’s not nice travelling round here at night.” The absence of meaningful social ties and daily challenges associated with living in his neighbourhood have led Mr. Brown to question the quality of his life: “I’m not interested in this house… I’m not interested in anything round here…come to think about it, I’m not really that interested about living.” (SEU, 2006, p.18).
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Case study of social exclusion
There are at least 5 clear areas of social exclusion: income, social relationships, neighbourhood safety, civic participation, and lack of a role and feeling useful. But there are other areas not directly mentioned, such as respect, access to services, and access to financial products which may well apply too.
Exclusion also contributes to mental ill-health, especially depression. As Peter Brown’s experience suggests, later life exclusion may follow from exclusion in mid-life, often triggered by a key life event (bereavement, redundancy, mental illness), and forming a cycle of decline from which is difficult to escape. People with mental health problems are particularly vulnerable to exclusion because their condition can drive them into isolation and this often continues in later life.
So, how many older people are socially excluded? You have an opportunity to look at this next?
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The extent of social exclusion
- 7% of older people – approximately 1.2million – were excluded on three or more dimensions. A further 13% are excluded on two dimensions.
- Those on low income, living alone and suffering depression are between 2 and 5 times more likely to experience multiple exclusion than the older population as a whole.
- Only 1% of older people have no telephone but, of these, 35% experience multiple exclusion.
- Almost one in three persons over 80 were found to be excluded from basic services compared to 1 in 20 of those aged 50-59. This is similar to those experiencing material exclusion.
- Exclusion from social relationships is also related to age with 1 in 4 persons aged 80 and over excluded, compared to only 9% of those aged 50-59.
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Tackling social exclusion
The government’s approach has been to transfer the principles of its earlier Sure Start for Children scheme to a Sure Start approach for later life. Sure Start for Children
‘drew on evidence that early intervention can improve the life chances of young children and tackle inequalities. Early intervention in later life can prevent inequalities in advanced age and makes economic sense.’
The idea is that the same principles of service delivery will deliver ‘locally owned, responsive, non-stigmatised and economically effective services that support dignity for individuals’(SEU, 2006, p.26). The Sure Start approach shifts the balance towards prevention and integrated services targeted on people with different levels of risk.
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Tackling social exclusion
The SEU report with its 30 point action plan was published in January 2006. It includes a £10 million programme to help to improve access to key services, and the piloting of a scheme, Link Age Plus, in eight local authorities, to provide one point of access to services provided in the community – housing, social care, financial benefits and transport.
There are other initiatives to promote better integration of services for older people as well as many longer–term policy recommendations which will take time to produce measurable results.
If you want to read more about the Link Age Plus’, click here http://www.dwp.gov.uk/publications/dwp/2004/linkage/link_age.pdf
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Tackling social exclusion
Will it work? Poverty and social isolation are at the heart of social exclusion and it’s not clear that the well-intentioned Sure Start approach on its own will be sufficient to reach the groups most at risk – such as women of very advanced age living alone. Significantly raising the universal state pension to a point where all older automatically receive sufficient income for a good quality of life (without relying on state benefits) would seem to be a pre-requisite for ending social exclusion among older people.