The State of Health and Care of Older People in England 2025

Age UK reveals older people are living longer but in poorer health, with less access to social care and community support.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of Age UK’s first annual report into the state of health and care for older people in England.

In 2015, Age UK set out to examine how well the health and social care system was meeting the needs of older people. At the time, the system was already under pressure and not yet equipped to support the UK’s rapidly ageing population. The hope was that, over the years, this would improve as government and policy makers adapted services to ensure everyone could age well.

Ten years on, the findings in the new report reveals that while life expectancy has risen and more of us are living longer, on many other measures the situation has worsened:

• Fewer older people are receiving long-term social care support
• There are fewer key health staff working in the community
• We are living fewer years in good health

These challenges paint a stark picture of the reality many older people are facing in 2025.