Baby boomers are retiring, but not fading away

The generation that invented youth culture and gave us free love, drugs and rock and roll may be getting on but have no plans to simply fade away, reveals a new report from the Mental Health Foundation, which highlights the need for radically different responses by health and social care services, and society more widely in the UK

• The retiring ‘baby boomer’ generation presents both challenges and opportunities to society, with an estimated additional 6.1 million people over 65 in the next 25 years.

• People are living longer but are not necessarily healthier, and often in greater isolation and loneliness, placing greater strains on health and social care services.

• The majority do not regard themselves as part of an older generation and 1 in 5 are not contemplating retirement from paid work.

• They are more likely than previous generations to seek help for mental health issues, with 43% saying they had visited their GP for advice about feeling stressed, anxious or low compared to only 31% of the previous generation.

• Worryingly more than a quarter (26%) said they knew little about the impact of ageing on mental health.

The Mental Health Foundation is launching today “Getting on...with life”, a report reviewing how baby boomers’ experiences have affected their views and expectations of growing old, and explores how they are likely to weather the transition into later life, particularly with regard to their mental health and wellbeing. The report highlights how the radical social and cultural change driven by this generation might also be the source of equally radical and inventive solutions to the problems their ageing will present.

The two-year “Age Well” research project, led by an inquiry panel chaired by Baroness Lola Young of Hornsey, included original research to investigate baby boomers attitudes and expectations of old age and the experiences that have shaped these, their current mental wellbeing as well as recent and future social trends that may impact on their mental wellbeing, and what can be done to protect and improve their mental wellbeing in later life.


Key findings include:

• People are living much longer but they are not necessarily living more healthily, meaning a greater number of older people are living with chronic health conditions and disabilities;
• More than half (52.7%) were worried about loss of their mental abilities in later life;
• They are likely to experience greater isolation and loneliness due to increased social and family fragmentation and loss of community cohesion;
• Significant inequalities continue to persist within this generation which impact upon mental health and wellbeing – though much less is known about particular groups in this generation such as people from Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities;
• Baby boomers are redefining this life stage as they make the transition into retirement and later life, with one in five likely to continue working after state pension age ;
• They are also a ‘transitional’ generation and have similar levels of concern about their mental health as they grow older in comparison to younger generations. Adjusting policies to meet this generation’s needs would therefore also benefit   subsequent generations;
• They are less concerned than younger generations about being depressed when they get older (29% compared to 42% of 18-44 year olds) which suggests a positive attitude towards growing old;
• Many are worried about whether they will get the health and social care support they need as they grow old but are also keen to be active participants in finding solutions to these problems using their lifetime skills, knowledge and experience;
• They are not a homogeneous group. Theirs is a generation of huge diversity in income and wealth, ethnicity, education, family relationships, health and life expectancy and attitudes and beliefs.

Baroness Lola Young, Chair of the Inquiry Panel said:

“How will a generation that invented youth culture deal with the challenges of growing older?  This is a generation that has changed each stage of life it has reached, from youth to mid-life.  It seems reasonable to predict that they will also bring change to the way people in Britain grow older and live their later years. Although we hear a lot about the economic costs of an ageing population and the care gap, maybe this generation, rather than just being seen as the cause of the problem, can be part of the solution as they reinvent the concept of old age and retirement.”

“There is a need for them and policy to be more proactive; the importance of properly implementing the equality legislation; greater realism around cognitive decline, means of prevention, and the need for greater flexibility around work and retirement.”

Andrew McCulloch, Chief Executive of the Mental Health Foundation added:

“This is the first time that all of this information, together with primary research, on the issue of baby boomer’s mental health has been pulled together in one place. Maybe it is time to think differently. Our intention is to support policy makers, key decision makers, strategists and researchers, as well as service designers and providers, to better plan for these major social changes and consider harnessing the talents of baby boomers themselves in finding solutions”.

“Although care must be taken when drawing conclusions about a group as diverse as a generation, clearly many in the baby boomer generation have broken the mould of every life stage they have passed through, so why should later life be any different? They are associated with radical social and cultural change, with new ways of thinking and different ways of behaving towards their parents. Might they not be a source of equally inventive solutions to the problems their ageing will present?”

The report highlights 10 key findings for UK governments and other agencies to promote the mental health of this and future generations, including:

• Baby boomers should be mobilised in helping shape and deliver forward-looking health and social care policies and services  
• Tackling social isolation and loneliness in old age should be a priority for national and local government action
• Adult health and mental health services should be integrated across age groups and delivered according to need not age.
• Ageism harms people’s mental health. We need a change of attitude towards age and older people across all policy areas.
• The importance of employment and workplace practices in protecting mental health in an ageing workforce to be recognised.
• Mental health in later life needs to be supported and protected as a valuable social asset. Public policy needs to recognise the enormous “care capital” within the baby boomer population

Download the report on our website.

Download a summary of the report.