Let students live alongside elderly in care homes to fight ‘inter-generational apartheid’, says report
This story provides interesting food for thought in the context of rural communities with their skewed demography towards older people. Do we need some intergenerational tonic of this sort? It tells us:
Care homes should be used to provide student accommodation and nurseries in an effort to combat “inter-generational apartheid”, according to a new report.
The study by think tank, United for All Ages, warns that older people are becoming increasingly “ghettoised” and lonely in care homes, and rarely talk to younger people apart from family members.
It claims that once family interaction is ruled out, the average Briton has 56 per cent less interaction with other generations than would be expected if there was no social segregation.
To help fight the growing “everyday ageism” within society, the report suggests a range of measures including home-share schemes where younger people live with older people and help them with daily activities in return for reduced rent.
It also suggests universities and schools should be opened up for older people’s programmes and that regular street parties should be held to encourage more mixing of the generations.
Home sharing schemes are becoming increasingly popular in Europe, as young people look for ways to be able to afford tuition fees and increasingly high rents in cities. But these have yet to take off in the UK.
“Britain is increasingly divided by age and by generation,” said Stephen Burke, director of United for All Ages.
“Ending age apartheid and promoting social integration between generations can help build communities and a country for all ages, where we are united not divided. In Brexit Britain, that is an ambition worth pursuing in 2017.