Summary | The State of Ageing 2025

All of us deserve the best possible lives as we grow older, and our whole society reaps the rewards when people can age well. Our new analysis of the state of ageing in England in 2025 reveals millions more of us are living into our seventies, eighties, nineties and beyond, in good health, working for longer and supporting our communities through volunteering and caring.

But this report also highlights that this rosy, positive picture of ageing is unobtainable for many, such as those who are living in poor housing, in poverty and poor health, and who are isolated from their communities and society. The report shows the impact of regional inequalities that determine the quality of people’s later life. Quite simply, where you are born in England determines how you live and how well you age.

The regional differences in how we age accumulate over many years and can be seen in this report across health, employment, financial security and the state of our homes. The North-South health divide is particularly stark, with life expectancy, healthy life expectancy and other determinants of a healthy older age, looking very different, for example, in Blackpool compared with Hart in Hampshire. Not only are there significant differences between regions, there are also differences in how well people age living in different areas of the same town.

It should be a real concern to both national and local policymakers that regional inequalities in how we age are growing. The gap is widening depending on where we live – and for some people this regional inequality comes on top of other disadvantages, widening the gap further. For example, the racism experienced by many people from minority ethnic backgrounds affects employment, income and other factors that we know help people to age well.

The gaps in health and wealth between people living in different regions are glaring:

• Where you are born in England is associated with how long you can expect to live: the life expectancy of men in Hart (Hampshire) is almost 10 years longer than for men in Blackpool, while a boy born in the North East can expect to live 74% of their life in good health compared with 80% in London.
• 2.3 million older people are living in homes that have an adverse effect on their health. And while the rate of non-decency is highest in the private rented sector, the absolute number of non-decent homes is highest in the owner-occupied sector: a total of 1.3 million homes owned by someone aged 55 and over are non-decent, with the highest number (212,000) seen in the North West.
• The employment rate gap or ‘age penalty’ (the gap in the employment rate between people aged 35 to 49 and those aged 50 to 65) is largest in the North East (19.8 percentage points), followed by London (19.1 percentage points). The gap is lowest in the North West (11.6 percentage points) and the South East (13.9 percentage points).
• Relative pensioner poverty rates vary across England, with the highest rates in Yorkshire and the Humber (20%), five percentage points higher than in the East Midlands and the South West. 

We need the government and others to take inequalities in ageing seriously and address the lack of political focus that has meant chronic underinvestment in helping people to age well. We also need to address the pervasive ageism in society that produces negative and distorted views of ageing and older people. By doing this, we can properly value and benefit from the contributions of older people to our society. 

This year’s State of Ageing report paints a national picture of the older population in England, using a variety of national data sources. We have also spoken to older people about their lives and seen our analysis of the data reflected in their experiences of ageing.

This summary report and the accompanying chapters draw attention to the disparities in resources, opportunities and outcomes that exist between different geographic areas – whether regions or local authorities. Inequalities between places in things such as access to decent and affordable housing, access to jobs (and good jobs), and the extent to which these places provide and maintain infrastructure such as transport and public services, give rise to inequalities in outcomes for people, including life expectancy, health and financial security. This report provides new insights into these place-based inequalities. Our findings show enormous variation in how people across England experience later life. 

Our older population is growing (both in numbers and in the proportion of the overall population) and the oldest part (people aged 85 and over) is the fastest growing segment of all. Coastal and rural areas tend to have larger numbers and concentrations of older people, on average, and are the fastest ageing parts of the country. 

At the same time, the older population is growing more diverse. In every local authority, the percentage of people from Black and Minority Ethnic (BAME) backgrounds aged 50 to 64 is more than that of people aged 65 and over. This is particularly true in urban areas – for example, in Barking and Dagenham 46% of people aged 50 to 64 are from BAME backgrounds compared with 23% of people aged 65 and over. As these 50 to 64-year-olds age, diversity will increase among the older population.  

Both life expectancy and healthy life expectancy are lowest in the poorest places in the country, and these places are more likely to be in the North and urban in nature. Moreover, life expectancy is lowest in places with the biggest gap in life expectancy between richest and poorest, and highest in places with the smallest gap in life expectancy between richest and poorest demonstrating the damaging effects of inequality itself. 

In the three-year period to 2022, life expectancy declined in England as a whole and in each of the regions, a trend that has been attributed to austerity. And although it has undergone a slight improvement in the latest data, it has still not returned to pre-pandemic levels.  

Healthy life expectancy in England has shown no such improvement and has instead continued to decline. This means, we are spending ever more of our lives in poor health. At the same time, inequality in life expectancy has increased in England as a whole and in all regions except the South West. 

In areas with higher levels of poor health and disability, the demands on unpaid carers are greater. In the North East almost half of unpaid carers aged 50 to 64 provide 20 or more care hours per week, while in the South East almost two-thirds of unpaid carers provide less than 20 hours per week. Older women from minority ethnic communities are particularly likely to provide more than 50 hours of unpaid care per week. 

Although coastal and rural areas in England are the oldest and fastest ageing places, it is in urban areas and parts of the North where older people experience the poorest health, have the lowest life expectancy and need the greatest levels of care.

This means that national government, regional partnerships and local authorities must pay close attention to the specific attributes of local places when considering how and where to allocate resources. Although the Chief Medical Officer’s annual report for 2023 highlighted places in the country with the largest concentration of older people as those with the greatest need, we show that the oldest and fastest ageing places in England are not necessarily the places with the worst health. There are many rural places with an older-than-average age structure but better-than-average health. Conversely, there are many places with a younger-than-average age structure but worse-than-average health. Therefore, allocating resources solely on the basis of the size of the older population will not address these inequalities between places. In fact, to do so runs the risk of actually increasing health inequalities.

Homes that can become too hot are also a major risk to health. They put additional strain on the circulatory system as the heart works harder to regulate body temperature, increasing the chance of a heart attack, irregular heartbeat (arrhythmia) and heart failure, particularly among older people who are most likely to have an existing heart condition. One in ten homes in England are ‘uncomfortably hot’, and around two in five of these homes are occupied by older people or someone with a disability or long-term illness. The risk posed by these issues will only worsen as climate instability increases the likelihood of days that are extremely hot, cold or wet. 

In addition, many older people are living in homes that are not suited to their needs, causing accessibility issues that can result in trips and falls, as well as social isolation and loneliness. Only 12% of homes in England are fully accessible but this proportion varies widely across the country and by age of the head of household. Just 4% of homes in the North West and the Midlands headed by someone aged 55 to 64 are accessible compared with almost a quarter (23%) in London. People are more likely to be impacted by the consequences of non-decent and unsuitable homes if they are from Black and Minority Ethnic (BAME) backgrounds, living in London, or living with a serious health condition or disability. 

The regional picture of health, disability and caring is reflected in the regional picture of employment and poverty. This is because work, health and poverty are so intrinsically linked. Places with fewer work opportunities have higher levels of deprivation and therefore worse health. Poor health and caring responsibilities – both of which have the greatest impact on people from more deprived places – make it harder to work a full and uninterrupted career. In fact, health problems are the main reason why people leave the workforce, although nearly half a million people aged 50 to 65 who have left work due to health reasons would return if the right support were in place.

In the UK the government has an aspiration to reach an overall employment rate of 80% (it is currently 75%). Other countries – namely the Netherlands, Switzerland and Iceland – have already achieved an 80% employment rate, but it is notable that they have a much higher percentage of people aged 55 to 64 in employment than the UK (75% in the Netherlands and Switzerland and 81% in Iceland compared with 65% in the UK). In fact, employment rates fall sharply after the age of 55 in the UK and it is clear that addressing employment levels among older workers is key to increasing the overall employment rate. 

Moreover, the gap between the employment rate of people aged 35 to 49 and people aged 50 to 65 varies across the country, from 11.6 percentage points in the North West to 19.8 percentage points in the North East.  

Sickness is the main reason that people aged 50 to 65 are not in work (41% of this age group give it as their reason for not working) but this varies across the country. Of people aged 50 to 65 in the South West who are out of work, just one in three cite their health as the reason compared with half in the North West, which is consistent with the fact that the prevalence of poor health is higher in northern regions.  

Nevertheless, 350,000 people aged 50 to 65 who are out of work due to sickness or disability would like to work. If the government is to meet its 80% target it will need to address these regional inequalities, and this will include ensuring that the right jobs and support are available for people with health conditions and disabilities who want to work.

In addition – and despite the State Pension age being equalised in 2018 – employment rates for women remain consistently lower than for men. Women aged 45 to 60 are seven times more likely than men in the same age group to have left or be considering leaving the workforce before the State Pension age to care for children or grandchildren (15% vs 2%). The employment gap between men and women also varies across ethnic groups. Only 20% of Bangladeshi women, 29% of Pakistani women and 55% of Chinese women aged 50 to 64 are employed compared with 65%, 68% and 70% of men with these ethnic backgrounds.

Although health is a major reason why people fall out of work as they age, discrimination on the basis of age has a huge impact on someone’s chances of being in employment. In our Effects of Ageism research, we found that almost one in five people had missed out on opportunities at work since turning 50. Employment support services achieve much worse outcomes for people aged 50 and over than for younger age groups, and the chances of a successful employment outcome decline with age.

Ageism interacts with ethnic, gender, health and socioeconomic inequalities to create unique barriers to employment for older workers, leaving some groups at particular risk of worklessness and poverty in later life. 

The evidence is clear: where people are supported to age well, with age-friendly information and communication (including digital inclusion), accessible shops and facilities, green spaces, transport, and health and care services, they experience strong social and civic connections in the communities in which they live, with profound implications for their health and wellbeing. 

Among the people we spoke to, their experience of growing older was mixed. We heard appreciation for the services that exist in some neighbourhoods, such as libraries that provide a wide range of activities. Many people talked about a strong sense of community, where neighbours help with tasks and look after each other (the informal volunteering described in our Society chapter). At the same time, they expressed a sense of loss for the communities they had known in their youth. This sense of loss also encompassed much else that they felt was no longer part of where they lived, such as good jobs, a reliable GP practice, buses, shops and local newspapers with details of local events and activities. Their sadness at this loss is not just for them, but also for the younger generation who are missing out on education and job opportunities, youth clubs and a sense of pride in the place where they live. The effect of these losses was described in stories of increased caring responsibilities, social isolation and feeling forgotten and invisible.

Many of the people we spoke to also expressed a low level of trust that those delivering services in their area will keep any promises to improve – or even deliver a service as they are commissioned to do. We heard of streets not being cleaned, parks not maintained, buses that don’t show up, and ‘supported’ housing with only the bare minimum of support. The people we spoke to were active members of their community – age-friendly ambassadors and engaged members of local Ageing Well groups – but they described a lack of political engagement with the issues affecting them. 

We asked people in Middlesbrough and Knowsley to describe what they would like to see in their areas to help them age well. This is what they told us:

Employment:

• Good work and job opportunities (for people of all ages)
• Apprenticeships, training and education provision (for people of all ages)
• Support for carers to help them return to work when caring ends
• Options for manual workers as they age, especially given the increases to the State Pension age 

Housing:

• Houses appropriate for people to grow older in
• Support for maintenance costs for homeowners (who may be asset rich but cash poor)
• More appropriate accommodation and community-based services for people who need additional support (e.g. because of mental health needs or substance misuse)
• More agency and control for older people living in supported housing (e.g. support for adaptations to meet individual needs in shared spaces)
• Reinstatement of decommissioned support in specialist older people’s housing  (e.g. wardens)
• More extra-care housing 

Health and care:

• Increased capacity in primary care, including dentists and GPs
• More face-to-face (technology-free) access to health services, and more straightforward technology (e.g. easy-to-use telephone systems)
• A consistent family doctor
• More funding for mental health
• Better communication about who you are seeing (e.g. nurse, doctor, pharmacist) 

Green spaces:

• Well-maintained and attractive green spaces near people’s homes
• Volunteer groups to help care for local green spaces

Community cohesion and participation:

• A variety of things for older people to do, which meet a wide range of interests
• More informal contact with neighbours, and formal programmes like Good Neighbours schemes
• People taking care of where they live (e.g. picking up litter)
• Regeneration that takes account of the need for people to stay connected in their communities as they age
• Opportunities to bring people of all ages together
• Accessible, timely and offline information about community events
• Feeling safe and confident to move around your neighbourhood at all times of day
• A visible and responsive police presence in the local community
• Youth clubs and activities for younger people
• Being listened to – at a national and local level – and feeling like you have a stake in where you live
• Better political representation