Age UK Claim 2.3 Million People Aged 65+ Still Don’t Use the Internet
A new study from the charity Age UK has claimed that around 4.7 million people aged 65 and over in the United Kingdom are unable to complete all eight of the most fundamental tasks required to use the internet, while 2.3 million of those in the same age group do not use the internet at all (48% of these people are aged 75+).
The “fundamental tasks” mentioned above include being able to turn-on devices and enter account logins, use settings and controls on the device, open applications, set up connection to WiFi, open internet browsers, keep passwords secure and change passwords when prompted to do so. All fairly second nature to most of us, but not if you’ve had very little experience of computers or the internet in your daily life.
However, for those older people who have got over the barriers of using the internet, further analysis by Age UK shows that among those over 65s who are online, around 2.5 million are “unable to complete tasks required to thrive in a digital society in day-to-day life“. These key skills include being able to communicate, to store and access information and content, carry out transactions, search for information and be safe online.
The charity is clearly concerned about so many people “being left behind“, although it also correctly recognises that it “will never be possible to get everyone online and trying to force the issue poses a real risk to older people’s health, finances and ability to participate in society.” This is something that the government’s ongoing drive for everybody to go digital often overlooks.
Caroline Abrahams CBE, Charity Director at Age UK, said:
“Many public as well as private service providers seem hell-bent on shifting their activities online but, as our new report shows, it’s clear that in doing so they are leaving fully one in three of the older population behind. In fact, the inconvenient truth is that many millions of people of all ages, especially older ones, are neither confident nor adept at using the internet, and want and need to continue to be able to transact their business in more traditional ways.
The Government should step in and ensure that we can all choose to access and use public services offline – by phone, letter or face to face as appropriate – rather than forcing everyone down a digital route many of us are struggling to navigate, and some of us are unable to navigate at all.
Older people who are not internet users or digitally savvy tell us how cross and upset they are when the main access to crucial services like GP appointments and Blue Badge applications, moves to being online. As our new report shows, this often leaves them feeling disregarded and disempowered, and the consequences can be serious, severing them from the support they need to stay fit, well and independent.
Age UK supports older people who want to go online to do so through a number of excellent digital programmes run by our local Age UKs, but the fact is that for a variety of reasons not everyone is able or willing to use the internet – particularly for more sophisticated tasks – and this will always be the case. Policy makers should stop fantasising about a digital-only world, come back down to earth and make sure older people can continue to access the services to which they are entitled – whether they use the internet or not.”
As we always say, not everybody wants to use the internet and nobody should force it on to those who don’t want or need it, but equally support should always exist for those who wish to give it a try. Admittedly, this philosophy will become increasingly strained as the Government continues to extend its digital-by-default strategy. Finally, Age UK has some recommendations.
Age UK Recommends:
➤ All public services, including the NHS, council services and other nationally provided public services, must offer and promote an affordable, easy to access, offline way of reaching and using them.
➤ The Government must make sure local government receives enough funding to provide offline services.
➤ There needs to be much more funding and support to enable people who are not internet users, but who would like to be, to get online.
➤ The Government should lead on the development of a long-term, fully-funded national Digital Inclusion Strategy, to support people of all ages who want to go online to do so (the last such strategy was produced in 2014).
➤ The Government should change the law to require banks to maintain face-to-face services.
➤ Banks must accelerate the roll-out of shared Banking Hubs to meet the high and continuing demand for face-to-face banking services.
Mark is a professional technology writer, IT consultant and computer engineer from Dorset (England), he also founded ISPreview in 1999 and enjoys analysing the latest telecoms and broadband developments. Find me on X (Twitter), Mastodon, Facebook and Linkedin.
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As long as these older people, in lieu of being cross and upset, pay the extra costs for access to all these services in the ‘traditional’ way rather than expecting others to pick up the tab all good.
I should clarify: I have no issues at all with a safety net for those unable to conduct business online, however those who are ‘cross and upset’ and simply refuse to should do so at their own expense. We all have to adapt with changing times and, frankly, online services are pretty user friendly. The time of having to start Trumpet Winsock before opening a web browser is long over.
If my 80 year old mother-in-law can manage it I’m sure most could.
The charity claims to run a number of ‘excellent digital programmes’ that older folks may attend so a good start to learning those skills and in most cases family members may assist.
People are free to refuse, their decision, but those same people should pick up the tab, not other customers or taxpayers. We’d all like services delivered exactly as we want them with other people paying for it but that’s not how the real world works for most.
“If my 80 year old mother-in-law can manage it I’m sure most could.”
So the people who aren’t using the internet are doing so are mostly angry old luddites? You’ve not encountered elderly people with severely impaired sight, with cognitive decline or memory loss, with poor fine motor control?
Almost all public services (and many business ones) are delivered with huge elements of cross subsidy and transfers. Imagine a “user pays” approach to health care, or primary education? Or indeed for electricity, where you’d find you either needed to commit on a take or pay basis to know what you’d be charged at different times of day, or you’d just have to pay what the market demanded at the time, with no knowledge of what that price would be.
So your suggestion is poorly thought through, although you can be sure no government would risk alienating voters by adopting it. Having said that, my local council took 20 minutes to answer a call yesterday, with performance like that its not clear why they bother.
My 81 year old mother mother is more than happy to do her banking on the internet (under my supervision) and she watches Youtube on the smart TV everyday, she has a tablet and smartphone which she’s quite competent with.
On the other hand my late father could barely use the most basic of mobile phones and it was painful trying to teach him, he had absolutely no aptitude for technology whatsoever.
It’s impossible to make generalisations. My parents generation will now slowly pass away and we will take their place. Let’s wait and see what gets thrown at us when we’re in our 80’s.
As Bob says having multiple bank branches in every town is no longer sustainable, In my opinion the banks and the regulator should be further down the line of providing a single outlet in each town for providing over the counter banking services for all banks.
So what methodology and processes do you propose do differentiate “the cross and the angry” from those physically or mentally unable?
And what will be the process to end your charging when the “cross and angry” lose capability?
See, it doesn’t work so well in Real Life.
Ah, the arrogance of youth. I remember it well. (And one day, you will too).
Don’t get me wrong. I’ve no objection to going online, (I’m a retired IT engineer), but the idea that it is all user-friendly today is arrogant nonsense. Anything is only user-friendly when you’ve done it before. Trust me, if the average user is taken out of their comfort zone in IT then they generally don’t have a bloody clue.
The day will come when you’re in the same position. Might not be IT related, but you’ll get there. The trouble is, youth can’t see past tomorrow.
How many legacy systems can you continue to provide. Each one adds to costs, In most cases currently you can access a service by internet or phone which should be adequate
You must have missed HMRC proposing to close their phone lines down for half the year.
@Mike P – they cancelled/suspended that for now after backlash for even planning to do so
WE are getting the same think with bank branches closing. The simple fact is very few people now use bank branches. What many do not understand is that they can use their bank account in any post office and most places still have a Post Office. Having separate branches for every bank is simply no longer viable in most cases
The other option is a charge is made for making transactions in a bank branch. How many though would want to pay ?
Companies don’t make the effort to appeal to non Internet users. That’s foolhardy, as they’re missing out on increasing their sales and income.
Not everyone is interested in going on line.
That’s fine though. If it’s cost prohibitive to offer something not “online” – then the business has no requirement to offer a service for those people in most cases.
I have this argument with my mother & her partner regularly regularly (both under 65) who won’t do phone or online banking – then complains their local branch is miles away, has issues doing any basic tasks which I can do on my phone with either HSBC/Monzo – instead they waste a few hours to go visit a branch. it’s “not secure” for them but I’ve given up telling them they’re wrong.
Agree with XGS if it’s a case of you *don’t want* to use online services – fine – pay an annual fee to have access to local services.
Most provide for phone banking and most provide for personal banking using a Post Office branch but for some strange reason many prefer to travel several miles to a bank branch
you can use telephone banking to set up direct debits, instead of insisting that bills are paid by cash or cheque (and complaining when a fee is charged for doing so), or demanding that banks maintain unviable branches to handle all of this despite ever decreasing use.
that doesn’t need someone to be terminally online.
Keeping bank branches open for the small number that still use them is simply not economic
You can use your personal bank account in any Post Office branch and there are not many places that do not have a Post Office
Would people pay say £1 a transaction to have a local branch of there bank? Somehow I doubt it
One day, all you capable and competent people will I trust, get older and keep healthy. Of course, it won’t be you who gets parkinsons or alzhiemers or macula degeneration or….. Yes people should be encouraged to try to “get online” and helped to do so; just so happens it’s what I volunteer to do. A little compassion for those less fortunate wouldn’t go amiss here.
Alternatives to online are provided though such as telephone or using the Post Office
In many cases, no they’re not. Not in an accessible way (ie not holding so long that your battery dies).
Central Government is the worst for this.
How/where are you volunteering?
Really all services should have two ways to access them, this would vastly increase the chances of complying with the 2010 equality act. Unfortunately many people providing these services are incapable of comprehending we are all individuals and are all different.
Are you making the ludicrous suggestion that the Equality Act is likely not being complied with unless you offer two channels of access?
People have had since 1990 to use the internet in a way that they’d find it easy today. There are assistance tools. Arguably it is not a reasonable adjustment to keep stores open for a minority of customers that are dementia stricken. Everyone else is capable of using the internet with existing tooling.
Good for them , enjoying their lives instead of worrying about broadband and what speed they can download or in this sites case upload at
As someone who works in tech support I can confirm that it’s a lot more than that (and loads of younger people as well).
The worst ones are the refuseniks who possibly *could* learn but don’t want to, while also expecting the world to carry on revolving around them.
Don’t want to. Not interested enough to.
Most people who use computers at work only know what they need to know to do their jobs.
I like most tech except AI.
I’ll not use a service if I’m pushed into using it. There’s always an alternative
Ever since i was young my grandad has always refused to have anything to do with the internet, And to be honest i dont blame him, He prefers nature and its a good way to live life imo.
How absolutely dare you . . . a vile smear of your elders and betters . . . .I’ve been involved and using desktop computing since 1977 (Who remembers the North-Star Horizon and CPM ?) and the internet since 1996 (Who remembers Compuserve and JANET ?), have the three desktops, two laptops, one tablet, a raspberry pi 3 and other assorted bits and bobs.
I take personal affront at this blatant ageism . . see you all outside the backdoor.
My view is that some older people may be put off by the “Assault-by-code” that is the average contemporary commercial web-page content i.e. pop-ups, third party advertising, government stipulated requests to consent to providers bleeding you dry with data harvesting for they let you access a web-page, pure squirrely code and systems that don’t work properly, security which is wide open and the risks of scamming at every opportunity from duplicitous operators, and where, even institutions you should be able to trust, have an on-line presence which would put an Oxford Street war-time spiv to shame . . .and, of course, a regulatory regime, that consistently functions to smooth the path for providers and operators at the expense of consumers . . might put you off . . if you are on limited income and similarly restricted understanding (Where’s the HMG inspired introductory “Baby-steps” IT course for seniors . . .you guessed it with the calving ice sheets near the North Pole.
IT lot need to clean their act up
But then again, the current IT approach, fits right in with the yoke of the carpet-bagger economy mentality and other right-wing spivvydom that we all labour under.
Second time today . . “I’ll get me coat”
This read like a schizophrenic’s rant.
Computers, smartphones and especially the internet has allowed providers to complicate what were simple, over-the-counter transactions. Also, Government online forms have become over-complicated and they more-or-less mandate that you use their systems in the way they want.I just can’t believe that they all need so much form filling when they must have most information already stored on their databases. For example, renewing a Blue Badge online requires scans of passport or other personal ID, a scan of a utility bill or similar for proof of address, an up to date photo in the correct format, nature of disability and so on. Pages and pages of bumpf, rather than a form that can be popped into the post to your council with a photo taken on a camera.
I really do think the expectation that you WILL do your legally required documentation (tax, health, employment, pension) or your banking online is in contravention of disability legislation. Social exclusion by social media acolytes doesn’t help – not everybody wants to be continuously online when there are real people to see and talk to face to face.
Don’t get me wrong, I like tech and its benefits, but tech has made life far more complicated than it needs to be. Any wonder that youngsters get cyber bullied with dire consequences!
The internet didn’t do away with your beloved face to face transactions by itself. When the DVLA closed its local offices, it wasn’t so much about internet services, but because they changed their processes to do it all by post and phone instead. Of course the internet has made these things easier.
If you want face to face – is a video call not acceptable? When it comes to disability, a deaf person might appreciate being able to talk to a BSL-trained member of staff via video call, or at least an interpreter, which is much harder to arrange in person.
I would add that paperwork is not the be all and end all. My driving licence renewal wouldn’t go through on the website, so I had to do it by post. It costs more and I had to print my photo out instead of just uploading it – and I had to dig out my chequebook.
Meanwhile my passport renewal was effortless because I could do it all online (except for having to send the old passport to them to have it cancelled).
Yes the government should integrate more between departments, we should be issued a national ID card and it should also be linked to the NHS so the government is aware of disabilities.
It could also potentially be used to speed up UC for those with conditions that would make obvious impairments to their day.
I have had an online account since 1999 but use a number of other ways to avoid going into a bank, e.g.:
• Use of direct debits for all regular payments.
• Use of ATMs for cash withdrawals.
• Use of a local subpost office for cheque and cash deposits (and they do cash withdrawals, too).
• Calling my bank.
The Alzheimer’s society forgot to send in their report..*
Sadly NOT anything to do with the time of the year.
What people forgets is the price of broadband, even social broadband tariffs could be around £20 a month, a person on a state pension could use that to keep warm in the winter.
Pensioners get so much support for heating bills its crazy !
If they can get online to claim it.
From memory its more like £5 extra with BT, if you assume they would have had the landline anyway.
As stated, anyone who qualifies for social broadband already gets a lot of extra assistance through pension credit or other benefits
A veritable surnami of state assistance, like the do-it-yourself, see-you-later-alligator-in-a while-crocodile Health Service. My last experience as an in-patient was, courtesy of Imperial Health Trust, was like being an inmate of Camp Dora.