ISSUES
: The Internet of Things
Chapter 2: Our digital future
30
Internet will isolate 700,000 elderly
people by 2030, study warns
Campaign launched by Friends of the Elderly charity warns that the number of older
people feeling lonely is set to rise by 40 per cent by 2030.
By Edward Malnick
H
undreds of thousands of
pensioners will be all but
cut off from government
services,
shops
and
local
communities within 15 years
because of the rise of the Internet,
a campaign backed by David
Cameron warns.
A study found that a growing shift
by banks, utility companies, shops
and community groups to carrying
out their activities on the web will
leave 703,000 over-60s remaining
offline at the end of the next decade
in situations akin to “living in a home
with no windows”.
The research showed that the
number of older people feeling
lonely will rise by 40 per cent by
2030.
The report, published by the Friends
of the Elderly charity, concluded
that around seven million over-
60s would be reporting loneliness
in 2030, compared to 5.25 million
today.
The charity said the increase would
be fuelled by a steep growth in
the size of the elderly population,
together with a decline in marriage,
which will leave more people over
60 living alone.
A separate poll commissioned by
the charity found that eight in ten
people have irregular or no contact
with older people, while more than
50 per cent say they do not know
their neighbours well enough to
have a conversation with them.
On Thursday, Friends of the Elderly
launches a campaign, Be a Friend,
based on the research and backed
by the Prime Minister, to encourage
people across Britain to initiate
“everyday interactions” with older
neighbours and family members
to help combat loneliness. It
hopes that the initiative will help to
reduce the projected increase in
the number of older people feeling
lonely.
Its analysis, based on official
population figures and the English
Longitudinal Study of Ageing, found
that 5.25 million people over 60 – or
one in three – report feeling lonely at
least sometimes. If nothing is done
to tackle the problem, the number
will rise to 7.03 million by 2030,
based on the expected increase in
the number of older people as well
as the growing number of those
living alone.
The study,
The Future of
Loneliness
, conducted by the
Future Foundation, found that the
proportion of people over 65 who
use the Internet at home would
rise from 51 per cent today to 85-
90 per cent by 2030. Friends of the
Elderly said it showed that it was
vital to take action now to overcome
loneliness in order people.
It warned that the digital shift would
leave around 703,000 older people
at a “serious risk of intensified
exclusion” from society if more was
not done to get people online.
The warning comes after Francis
Maude, the Cabinet Office minister,
said in June that in the future most
public services would only be
available on the Internet “because
we think that is a better thing for
people’s lives”.
Steve Allen, chief executive of
Friends of the Elderly, said: “To be
offline in 2030 will be like living in
a home with no windows. We’ll
miss out on much of the life and
conversations of community, on
opportunities to buy, sell and take
part, and day-to-day shopping and
payment of bills will become costlier
and more inconvenient.
“As the benefits grow for Internet
users, digital exclusion, for non-
users, will become increasingly
punishing.”
The South West has the highest
proportion of lonely older people
per household, with one on four
homes containing someone over
60 who reports feeling lonely.
London has the lowest proportion
at one in 11.
6 August 2014
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The above information is
reprinted with kind permission
from
The Telegraph
. Please visit
for further
information.
© Telegraph Media Group Limited
2016
