Britain among world’s most age-segregated societies, report warns

Britain is one of the most age-segregated societies in the world, according to a new report from the think tank United For All Ages.

But the report, called The Next Generation, says the more that young and old can interact, the bigger the benefit for all of us.

It calls on nurseries, schools and childminders to link up with older people’s care homes and housing providers, saying anxiety, loneliness and social mobility are just some of the issues that can be alleviated when retired people and children mix more often.

Rosina Smith, 90, couldn’t agree more. Every week, she takes part in a parent and toddler group at her south London care home, Nightingale House.

“I look forward to every Monday morning,” she tells Sky News. “I love the babies and I like the mums, you get to know them.

“The word seems to go around and they bring their friends.

“It’s just so friendly, we all get to know each other by name and we just enjoy the company.”

When we visit, Rosina’s happily playing with 16-month-old Grayson, whose mother Melanie Twyman also enjoys the interaction.

“We don’t have family that live very close so it’s really nice to see the same people every week,” Ms Twyman says.

Faye Garcia, 90, says it gives her a thrill every time she walks in the gardens and hears the children calling her name.

“You really get to know the children. It’s like being the grand matriarch of a family,” she says.

Nightingale House director of care services, Simon Pedzisi, said: “The outcomes just speak for themselves – the smiles that you see on residents’ faces when they’re telling stories about what they did when they engaged with the children.

“Some of the residents will take a role of being a parent, and looking after the children, that gives vocation, occupation, a sense of purpose.

“But most importantly, reminiscence, because a lot of the residents we’ve got here, they have grandchildren, they have children, and sometimes they actually remember what it was like looking after their own children.”

The benefits are also clear for Grayson and the other children – the report says similar schemes have had a positive impact on children’s wellbeing, language use, social interaction and communication skills, as well as helping them develop empathy and fight ageism.

Judith Ish-Horowicz, principal and co-founder of the Apples and Honey Nightingale group, said: “I have seen the maturity, I’ve seen that compassion, that empathy.

“They are sharing stories that they may not share with their own parents and with other friends.

“And I’ve watched how the children move around the residents – they’re very careful, their spatial awareness is developed, their sense of being in community.

“I very much think that children being here know where they are in the cycle of life.”

But these projects demand money and resources that cash-strapped councils, care homes and nurseries are unlikely to have, says Dominic Carter, a senior policy officer at the Alzheimer’s Society.

“Bringing in different elements of the community and giving older people a sense of purpose and value is incredibly important but without the money and without the resource to do so, in an increasingly stretched sector where we are seeing care homes closing week by week, this isn’t going to happen.

“So the government must follow up on the long term plan it showed the NHS yesterday and put into place a similar, ambitious level of planning for social care for the future.

“Without that basic level of resourcing, that capacity, I don’t think we can expect there to be this kind of uptake.”

The United For All Ages report says almost a third of children’s Sure Start centres have closed in the last decade, and Age UK says more than a million older people say they often feel lonely.

There are hopes that bringing the generations together can bring a sense of togetherness in a nation that often feels more divided than ever.

(c) Sky News 2019: Britain among world’s most age-segregated societies, report warns