1. A broader perspective
Dr Kate Woodthorpe

2. Overview of my presentation
Demographic trends
Changing households, changing families
Co-morbidity
What’s coming
Looking elsewhere from alternatives
What we could do to help

3. Demographic trends Ageing of the population
Older people working longer
Older people living longer
Increasing number of single households
UK: small family size and geographical mobility puts us at a disadvantage compared to other countries/cultures where families are larger and/or live near each other and/or live together

4. Changing households in Scotland
More people living on their own than ever before
2010: 85,000
2035: 130,000
More older ‘head of households’
Households headed by someone aged 85+ increasing
2010: 76,000
2035: 198,000
Financial implications of older single households

5. Changing Scottish families
Later life marriages
Later life child-rearing, smaller families
Increase in divorce rates, increase in re-marriage
Blurred lines of familial obligation and responsibility

6. Who steps up for who?
“Most informal care for older people is provided by partners and adult children. Changes in family structure, whether it may be from having fewer children and starting families later, increased levels of marital disruption and more complex family relationships or greater geographical separation of families, may have an effect on the availability of care” (Centre for Policy on Ageing, 2014: 1)

7. Living with multiple long term conditions
Audit Scotland: 27% of people aged have two or more conditions
60% of all deaths are attributable to long term conditions
Twice as likely to be admitted to hospital
More likely to be disadvantaged by home ownership, income and so on

8. What’s coming for Scotland
Projected increase in Scottish population
To 5.7m in 2039 (7% from 2014)
Projected increases in number of pensioners
To 1.36m in 2039 (28% from 2014)
Life expectancy rises
80.9 for men, 85.1 for women by 2035
Increasing death rate
57,573 deaths in Scotland in 2015 (6.1% higher than 2014)
Expected to hit 1990s levels by 2039
Changing expectations regarding familial obligation

9. Implications for funerals
Is adequate provision possible given the rise in individual responsibility for households?
Can we assume spouses or adult children will step up, given changing family structures?
Who will pick up the pieces?
Intergenerational obligation
Older adult children dealing with the ‘oldest old’
They themselves could be living alone with multiple conditions

10. Looking elsewhere for alternatives
“… the British system is hampered by a discourse of welfare dependency rather than entitlement, which stigmatises those who need support with funeral costs at a time when they are under pressure to ensure that the deceased person receives a ‘dignified’ send off” (Valentine and Woodthorpe, 2014: 515)
The purpose and shape of the welfare state, its relationship to commercial providers and local custom and practice is key
That is, the relationship between culture, politics and practice

11. Our European neighbours
Germany: high levels of protection through social insurance, everyone encouraged to contribute; emphasis on family, labour associations and church.
Reinforces inequality through reliance on position in labour force
Sweden: high level of protection through universal benefits, raised through taxation
Some people end of paying twice through taxation and personal provision

12. What we could do to help
“Simplification Simplification Simplification”
Establish liability for family members/creation of hierarchies of responsibility
OR focus on the dying/deceased individual
Localised provision and targeted populations
Universal acceptance based on income
Matched funding schemes/social insurance
Set figure/set parameters of what will be funded

13. Thank you for your attention today
Valentine, C. and Woodthorpe, K. (2014) ‘From the Cradle to the Grave: funeral welfare from an international perspective’, Social Policy and Administration, 48 (5):