Soldiering On

‘Soldiering On’ is a survey about the impact of the recession on Warwickshire’s over 60s.

We were very proud to take a major role in analysing and presenting the results of this survey. As the name suggests, the over 60s often hide their difficulties and problems because they ‘soldier on’ and manage, often incurring personal hardship without complaint.

The original survey from 2009 found that many of our local over 60s have major financial strains placed upon them, including great difficulty paying fuel bills. Some have to juggle their money, making unenviable choices of whether to heat their home or feed their family.

This age group is also extremely concerned about the effect of the downturn on their adult children and many pensioners are actively supporting their families in the form of unpaid child care, free board and lodgings or direct financial support.

Inevitably the recession is also affecting the health of this group in the form of stress and worry. Increasing isolation, as the cost of transport is so high in our rural location, also has an impact on the mental health of our over 60s.

We wanted to understand more about the impact of financial worries on the physical and mental well-being of the over 60s, so we repeated the survey with more health-related questions in 2011.

This survey was used to produce an updated report: ‘Still Soldiering On’.

Please take the time to read our revealing reports, which are available to download below: