21st Century Challenges

Britain must radically shift the way it thinks about what its ageing population contributes to the economy if it is to avoid future fiscal crises, a prominent economist has warned. George Magnus, senior economic adviser to UBS, said that businesses would have a major part to play in the shift as traditional sources of growth – including the housing market – shrink, and an ageing population puts a strain on the public finances.

A quarter of people living in England's countryside will be over 65 by 2020, a campaign group has said.The National Housing Federation said figures estimate a 40% rise in older residents over the next 10 years.

Improving the care available for the elderly will be Labour's domestic policy "priority" should it win the next election, Gordon Brown has said.

The population of the UK will rise from 61m to 71.6m by 2033 if current trends in growth continue, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has said.

Just over two-thirds of the increase is likely to be related directly or indirectly to migration to the UK.

A judgement on whether it is legal for UK employers to force workers to retire at the age of 65 is expected later. In the UK, a worker can see their employment end at the age of 65 without any redundancy payment - even if they do not want to retire.

It was once a rule of demography that people have fewer children as their countries get richer. That rule no longer holds true

According to an analysis of demographic data, many of today's wealthier pensioners are turning their backs on traditional retirement destinations with a "grey influx" into upmarket towns and cities in some of the UK's most sought-after inland locations - such as in the Cotswolds, and parts of Hampshire and Kent.

The government has set out its blueprint for reforming care for older and disabled people. Key figures in the social care sector give their response

Ambitious proposals to set up a national care service, on an equal footing with the National Health Service and dedicated to providing care for our ageing population, will be unveiled in the government's green paper on care and support later today.

The government has launched a new strategy to support an ageing UK population. Important measures of the new strategy include providing support to people to plan earlier for their longer lives and making sure that services are suitable when the time comes to use them.

Who will care for older people in the future ... experienced council-employed staff or poorly-paid migrants in cash-starved independent homes? Anna Bawden investigates

Researchers found that Americans had better memories, were quicker witted and were generally smarter than their English counterparts. And the older the pensioner, the greater the difference, claimed researchers.

The stigma attached to walking down the aisle even very late into a pregnancy is evaporating in Japan, with dekichatta-kon weddings accounting for almost one third of the total. The country is struggling with a rapidly ageing population and a declining birth rate that means that the average Japanese woman will only give birth to 1.25 children in her lifetime, well below the 2.1 required to keep the population level stable.

Workers over 50 in white collar, management roles have the most valuable pensions, paying two-thirds of their final salary

The majority of Britons accept they will be forced to work beyond 65 after watching the value of pensions collapse. Six in ten said they realised they would have to stay in jobs longer to save up more money, a poll shows.

With fertility rates declining in many rich countries, the number of elderly people as a share of those of working age is projected to rise sharply over the next 40 years, according to the European Commission.

The UK population is getting older and faces deep financial, emotional and health issues - a generation face working into their seventies - or living out their old age in penury.

Seventh consecutive annual rise for England and Wales sees birth rate increase to 1.95 children per woman

The “grey gap year” market is booming. Some 200,000 Britons of retirement age embark on long-haul trips every year, spending an average £5,000 per trip.

2009 will see a number of large organisations making a fundamental change to their company pensions - cancelling final salary schemes for existing members.

With fun and fitness on the agenda, baby boomers are retiring to towns that have it all.

A pension funding shortfall of £10billion threatens local government services in London, the Evening Standard reveals today.

British businesses can continue to force employees to retire at age 65 without breaking EU rules, the European court of justice ruled today.

For the first time, Britain's over-65s outnumber all the children under 16

Demographic changes including an ageing population and rising emigration from Britain lie behind the fall in the number of UK-born people in work, rather than the arrival of new migrants, according to research published yesterday.

Singapore's location in Asia, the world's fastest-ageing region, places it in a prime spot to seize the economic and social opportunities that come with ageing