Health inequalities and older people

The State of Ageing 2023–24 report provides a contemporary overview of older people living in England, drawn from a range of sources, including ONS data from the Census 2021 (Centre for Ageing Better, 2023). The population of England and Wales is older than ever before. Almost 40% of people are over 50 years of age and the population of people aged 80 years and over is growing most rapidly. Older people are a diverse heterogeneous group and the report highlights marked variations in health status relating to ethnicity, wealth, geography and sexual orientation. It highlights how older people living in the most deprived geographical areas face a three-fold challenge: they are more likely to have a disability that limits their ability to carry out daily activities, most in need of help and are the least likely to receive the help needed.

Health inequalities have widened over the last decade. The proportion of older people living with self-reported poor health is increasing, along with huge inequalities in healthy and disability-free life expectancy between the least deprived and the most deprived (Iacobacci 2020). Added to this, austerity has taken a significant toll on equity and on the health of older people (Office of Health Improvement and Disparities, 2023).