Ageing Population- there's money to be made

Posted by Carolyn Pearce on 23 July 2010 | 1 Comments

In the near future, for the first time in history there will be more people on the planet who are over 60 than those under the age of 15. With the Government announcing plans to rise the state pension age to 66 by by 2016. This will mean that the UK workforce will comprise of an increasingly larger proportion of over 60’s.

However when those individuals do retire given the steep and continuing increase in the ageing population, it will soon become impossible for those who are working to support those who are retired. This situation has not been helped by a falling birth rate and the fewer children there are, the fewer future taxpayers there will be to foot the ever-increasing state pension bill.

Another aspect to consider is that if present trends continue the total cost of providing long-term care to these individuals. Last year the City of London commissioned a piece of research looking at what role the financial services industry could play in making provision for pensions and, more specifically, long-term health costs in an ageing UK society.  Research found that these costs could reach £24.1bn in 2026, which the Treasury would struggle to afford. Experts have said that is it only by partnering with the private sector and looking at some of the innovative solutions on offer in the financial services industry will we be able to avoid a funding crisis in the years to come. At the same time, the healthcare industry and other companies can benefit from this demographic change by marketing products and services for the elderly. This will lead to real opportunities for the healthcare industry to grow.

So what does this mean for BPS firms? Clearly those firms who have thought about changing demographics and sought to develop services and solutions to the ticking time bomb will be well placed to benefit from the opportunities. We will be working on a number of initiatives to help firms develop their offer for this market and over the next few weeks you will hear about upcoming events. In the mean time we would welcome any contributions from firms who are already making progress in the market, just go to contact us section on this site.