Presentation on Our Voices, the experiences of people ageing without children

1. Ageing without Children
Kirsty Woodard
Founder

2. About AWOC
• Founded in 2014
• 4 key aims
Carry out more research to better understand the issue
Set up network of local AWOC groups
Work with other organisations to develop solutions and
services
Raise awareness & campaign for the inclusion of people
Ageing without Children in discussions on ageing

3. So far we have
• 2 conferences; 1 in January 2015 and 1 in June 2016
• Our Voices report launched
• 4 local groups – Leeds, York, Stockport and London
• Facebook group with over 550 members
• Twitter feed with aprox 1500 followers
• Website
• Invited to speak at a range of events including MHA loneliness
conference, Future East events in Essex, North Norfolk and
Cambridge, Future of Housing conference Bristol, Notting Hill
Housing conference on ageing in London
• Appeared on Woman’s Hour, BBC Breakfast, local radio and the
Victoria Derbyshire show
• All with no funding – at present time (Sept 2016) AWOC receives
no public or grant funding

4. Definitions
• Childfree – made a positive choice not to have children
• Childless – wanted children but was unable to have
them
• Other people who regard themselves as ageing without
children include people
– who had children who subsequently died
– are estranged from their children
– have children who live a long distance away
• Attitude to entering later life without children varies
depending on whether was own choice
• Irrespective, practical issues remain the same

5. Our Voices
• 4 focus groups
• 2 one to one indepth interviews
• 6 individuals writing their own stories
• Contributions from facebook group
• Survey responses

6. 6 themes
• Invisible
• Being judged
• “who will tell my story?”
• Being a carer is the trigger
• Practical help
• Disconnect from other generations

7. Invisibility

8. Being judged
“I went into the Building Society to change
something on my account and the cashier was
chatting with me as you do and she asked me
if I had any children. When I said no, she said
‘oh you selfish cow”

9. Who will tell my story?
“If I get dementia who is going to tell the carers I
don’t like sprouts and hate Eastenders? No
one is going to know are they? And I won’t be
able to tell them”

10. Being a carer is a trigger
“Who will do all the things I currently do for my
ageing parents, from helping them overcome
the terror of dementia, to buying their clothes
to standing up for them when they are being
ignored in hospital. And who will hold my
hand and tell me they love me when I'm
dying?”

11. Practical help
“one of the things that gets my goat is how "caring
for the elderly" is always talked about in terms of
daily personal/semi-nursing care. But what most
children do for their elderly parents is help them
with financial matters, take them to the
supermarket, take them on outings, deal with
"officialdom" for them, take them to hospital and
doctor appointments, etc. That part of helping
the elderly never seems to get talked about”

12. Disconnect from younger people
“I used to go to the pub with work and there
were lots of different ages, now I’m retired I
don’t seem to see anyone young anymore. I
miss that”

13. What AWOC would like
• Government planning on ageing needs to take into account the increasing
numbers of people getting old without family support.
• Local authorities need to identify how many people in their area are likely to age
without children and incorporate this into their strategies on ageing.
• GPs, hospitals and social care services should identify people without family at an
early stage to ensure they are not left without help.
• Investment in advocacy services that can speak up for people without children
• Investment in intergenerational programmes so that people ageing without
children are not cut off from other generations.
• Everyone should be given advice to help them make plans for their later life that
take into account what will happen if they do need care or lose capacity to make
their own decisions.
• A national strategy for people ageing without children that brings together
individual people ageing without children along with national and local
Government, the NHS, housing providers and key bodies from civil society

14. Contact AWOC
• Email ageingwithoutchildren@gmail.com
• www.awoc.org
• @awocuk