The Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (IFoA) has today published its latest Longevity Bulletin, which considers solutions to the UK's social care crisis.
COVID-19 has brought into sharp focus, for both government and the public, the importance of social care and the clear need for improvement in its funding and commissioning.
The IFoA's latest Longevity Bulletin explores ways to create a system that is both fit-for-purpose and intergenerationally fair, providing insights and recommendations on what potential solutions might look like.
This comes after the government recently announced plans for a new health and social care levy, which the IFoA described as “an important first step” in finding ways to tackle the crisis.
“It’s been 10 years since the Dilnot Commission set out its recommendations on how to deliver a fair, affordable and sustainable funding system for social care,” said Matthew Edwards, editor of the IFoA Longevity Bulletin. “Since then, little has changed, and our ageing population has put greater strain on an already creaking system.
“The pandemic has exposed the inadequacies of the care system, boosting public recognition of the problem, and presenting an opportunity to make some significant and lasting changes.
“The contributors to this bulletin consider a range of different care issues ranging from care communities, where residents can choose levels of independence and care needs as appropriate, to new technologies which help to boost social interaction and resilience.
“We know there are no easy answers to this issue, but we wanted to highlight recent developments that could help to shape new thinking for a social care system that needs attention and action now.”
Essays from the bulletin include:
- To care or not to care? (Sacha Dhamani, head of longevity at Royal London)
- Continuing care retirement communities – still attractive in a post-Covid world? (Dan Ryan, chief science officer at COIOS Research)
- A broken system (Jules Constantinou, regional manager for life and health at Gen Re)
- Resilience and technology adoption among older adults (Amer Fasihi, CEO and co-founder, Kraydel)
- Rethinking elderly living after the pandemic (Sze-Yunn Pang, CEO, Neurowyzr)
- Latest news from the Continuous Mortality Investigation (CMI)
IFoA president, Louise Pryor, said: “The pandemic has shown us how delay is a costly alternative to early action.
“The essays in this bulletin make it clear that none of the structural problems in the social care system are new, but the impact and effect of COVID-19 has pointed to a more urgent need to address them.
“It is also a reminder that actuaries, as experts in long-term risk management, have a valuable voice in this debate, and must work alongside government and other industry stakeholders to find long-term, sustainable solutions.”
Image credit: iStock
Author: Chris Seekings