Another week, another government report about ageing, yet nothing will change

In my latest book (This I Know) I sum up the attitudes towards population ageing, of the Ageing Business's three groups of players , like this:

Government .....wishes the issue would go away
Businesses .... always have something better to do
Older Consumers .... are unprepared and 'hope for the best'

Instead of taking decisive actions Government is reduced to distractionary activities. God knows how many reports it has produced, and ignored?

Another one appeared last week  Fuller Working Lives A Partnership Approach published by the DWP. The word 'turgid' sums up the 50 pages of analysis that is about as interesting to read as a telephone directory. For those of you who don't remember, telephone directories were the books that listed names and telephone numbers.

No doubt a bunch of civil servants, ably assisted by members of the ageing blob, thought that had done a splendid job in crafting the document. Sure it has generated a bit of media coverage but nothing more.

The failure of the three groups, government in particular, to come to terms with demographic change creates huge business opportunities.

There is something wrong about making money out of the failure of others but there you go - storm clouds and silver linings etc. Dick Stroud