40% of over 75s do not use the internet

[antelopevalley]

I have just read this statistic in a report and it has left me wondering about the other 60%. Life will become increasingly difficult for them. And if they are not using it now, they are unlikely to be using it in a few years time.

This is the report by the Campaign to end Loneliness.
www.campaigntoendloneliness.org/loneliness-in-west-wales-report-published/

My dad is 69 and cannot operate a washing machine or use a computer. My mum does everything for him. Not sure what will happen if she does first.

Does= dies!

They piss off their friends is what happens.

Most of DMs friends use the internet when it suits them, but claim they don't. It drives her to distraction when they ask her to order an item, or book something online and they'll give her the cash because they don't trust making online payments.

What's the percentage for 70-75 though - I suspect this is very much a snapshot of generation. The next cohort down will have used computers/internet during their working lives, so the current issue will gradually disappear.

@antelopevalley "You know retirement age is 68 years old?"

Firstly, there is no legal retirement age and employers can't force you to retire.
Secondly, you have not understood the result of the report and what it could mean for the future. As the population ages, the percentage of people 75+, using the internet will increase as people who are younger and computer savy move into that bracket. The stats will also be less alarming if the report used 5 or 10 year age brackets rather than a single 75+ one.

In that case, then perhaps more information should be shared by means other than the internet, particularly if the things happening locally are specifically aimed at that demographic (either the elderly or people too poor to afford an online presence).

My elderly relative struggles to remember which buttons to press on her landline phone and the tv remote, and is totally incapable of sending a text on her mobile. She wouldn't have a cat in hell's chance of coping with the internet and its foibles, hackers, con-artists and whatnot.

The number of people over 75 not using the internet will decrease every year, as younger people (who do use it) enter that age bracket and older people die.

My Nan is coming up 98 and doesn't use the internet, she doesn't need to. She can get the TV and radio she wants, she goes to the shops for her shopping, communicates with friends using the landline phone and has local family who help her with anything else.

My other grandparents are 91 and 89 and are constantly getting pulled in by online scams and/or buying loads of stuff they don't use so it's probably better that they don't use it!

My parents use the internet, constantly. I think it's changing over time as the computer literate generation turn 75

From ONS:

92% of adults in the UK were recent internet users in 2020, up from 91% in 2019.
Almost all adults aged 16 to 44 years in the UK were recent internet users (99%), compared with 54% of adults aged 75 years and over.

While there has been little change in internet use for adults aged 16 to 44 years in recent years, the proportion of those aged 75 years and over who are recent internet users nearly doubled since 2013, from 29%, to 54% in 2020.

So actually internet use is increasing rapidly in that demographic, hugely helped by the pandemic - a rare silver lining.

Recently discovered my PIL (who has dementia) had "broken" his computer by loading multiple pages from an "over 60's dating site". We didn't tell MIL.

My Dad, in his 80s, uses his laptop for emails, letters, spreadsheets etc & is fairly proficient on the internet but hasn't made the leap into online banking as he just doesn't trust its safety.

His wife, early 70s, is the same level & again, distrusts online banking!

They have a smart TV & iPads but are finding their new Nest setup for the heating hard work - to be fair, I'm a bit confused by it as well!
If technology makes massive leaps forward then they might have problems but for now they're keeping up & can work most things out, it just takes a bit longer.

I am well aware there is no retirement age. But 68is for most people when they get the state pension. Only well-off people can retire before then.

Why is it a surprise, people managed their lives perfectly fine before the development of computers and mobile phones it’s only fairly recently that everything has moved online. I’m in my early sixties started work pre computers pre mobiles, no emails, wages in cash in wage envelopes and we just used landline phones or fax to communicate. I worked at a University so used the Web before a lot of people did and learnt on the job so to speak. I’ll be online in my 70’s cause I’ve used it most of my adult life. My mum on the other hand is 80 she never had cause to use a computer for work only had “ little” jobs in shops or cleaning and stopped work all together 25 years ago, she’s never used a computer at home and only has a basic mobile phone she’s perfectly happy with that. I guess she’s lucky in that she has me and my siblings to help her by doing a small amount of stuff that you can’t avoid doing online.
Banks, services, shops push customer service online because they want to save money not because they want to help anyone elderly. Then society as a whole helps that by blaming anyone older who’s not computer savvy for not being able to access the services they need rather than insisting that core services still have a duty to be contactable by phone or by letter.
Also my mum’s not lonely because she has actual friends who she phones and speaks to and arranges to meet up with, no idea where this thought that unless you are online, you lead a sad life comes from.

And 85% of 65-74 year olds have recently used the internet - so that 55% is going to continue to go up and up at pace as people age.

My mum is 83 & I wish I had never taught her to use an Ipad, she is never off it.

My mum is 83 & I wish I had never taught her to use an Ipad, she is never off it.

My grandad was given an ipad for his 86th birthday, swore he didn't need it and would never use it. But now aged 92 is whasapping, uses Facebook, has got in contact with cousins living abroad, and emails and does online thinggs with his social club, watches iplayer etc. He really loves it! It was brilliant when he went into hospital for a hip replacement during the pandemic / lockdown as we could whatsapp and call him, and him us. He very much moaned about the unreliability of 'the cloud' (hospital WiFi) 😂 that said, online banking etc is a bit beyond him, my mum and uncle manage that for him, and he isn't capable of online shopping but does ask me to order stuff from amazon occasionally, although with a few repeated lessons and ocassiobal tech support I'm sure he could learn if it was necessary. Pisses me right off when people in their 70s refuse to try though, and rely on younger relatives to pick up the slack. There's no reason not to. 70 is not too old to learn!

That is pretty meaningless when you drill down. It can mean they looked something up on google once. It is a long way from being able to use the internet to access services.

@Carrotmum the online is relating to older people retiring to often rural places and the impact on them. That is what I am looking at. And not being online can mean they are less likely to know what is happening locally, particularly in nearby villages or towns they could travel to.
If you retire in a place you have lived for years you tend to have far more social connections, including looser ones i.e. the people you say hello to in the street and in shops. People like this tend to find out far more informally about local services.

My mil has never ever even turned a computer on. She's 77. She is proud of this. Refuses to even consider a smart phone. It's like she feels better than others because she's so IT illiterate?
No idea how she'll manage if anything happens to fil.
My mum - 76 - uses a smart phone, tablet etc. She does online banking.

The IT skills required for a normal life keep changing. I hope people retiring can keep up.
I have worked with young people who use social media loads but struggle to learn how to new work-based software. It surprised me the first time I came across it.

You now say that you are aware that there is no retirement age, so why state in your post that there is one?🙄
What's the relevance of "Only well-off people can retire before then"?

Claiming your state pension doesn't mean that you have to stop working. Today, more people are choosing to remain in work after reaching state pension age, either through financial need or for other reasons.

And why should they?
I'm in my 20s, obviously using the internet now. I'll openly admit a little addicted. But I'm weaning myself off it. I'm hoping to get to the point where I only use it for researching something....

Much prefer things in real life.
The internet isn't compulsory.

Amazing how people lived their lives for so long without using it. How did the deceased generations above them survive with no internet? To think whole civilizations have risen and fallen without the internet.

You are being pedantic.
My original comment said that the retirement age of 68 is only seven years away from being 75 years old. My point was that we are not just talking about very elderly people in care homes.
For most people, the state pension age is the first time they can consider retiring. Although they are a growing number of older people not working who are off sick, they are not retired.
Some people work beyond the state pension age.
But most 75-year-old people are not working (yes I know some are - about 6% over 70 years of age) and most that are working are working very part-time.
So most of this age will not get updated IT skills from the workplace. But will have to keep up with IT to access services. I do not think the practicality of this is really being considered properly.