People are living longer with much more complex health needs ,people may have gone in a home, in days gone by because, they were widowed ,lonely etc but still.fairly independent with their self care needs
Often those that that are in homes these days Need nursing care ,full assistance with feeding ,dressing etc
I can understand why they are vert expensive.
@x2boys My relative was in a mixed home. She just needed a bit of support and companionship but some of the residents needed full nursing care. The difference was in those days staff could afford to do the job because there was more affordable housing available even if their job wasn't super highly paid, and most care homes including hers weren't privatised. Often large private companies make millions from owning a group of care homes but run then on a shoestring. Understaffed and the staff they do have are poorly trained and badly paid.
I'm beginning to also think people can't win. They're told to eat healthily, not smoke, and have a healthy lifestyle but then everyone is dismayed when they don't die younger and there's an ageing population. I also understood that life expectancy is no longer rising?
Also many of the complex health needs build up longterm. Lots of working age people struggling to see their GP and often when they finally manage it, fobbed off, and or stuck on long secondary care waiting lists. So their health has deteriorated by the time they're diagnosed. Or people living in poverty which affects health. Consequences later down the line is more older people with higher care needs.
So much goes back to the false economy approach.