What Is The Average Age Of Someone Needing Care?

The term ‘old people home’ is widely used to describe a care home or nursing home setting by care seekers, but does that ring true? How old are people who require the support of a residential care setting?

We thought we would investigate…

We analysed over 50,000 care enquiries received over the past three years to find the average age of someone who requires support.

The average age of someone who needed support in 2022 was 84, with no change from 2021 and down from 86 in 2020.

We thought we would look at the data across different care types, the table below shows our findings:

Our data shows that the average age of people needing care has decreased across all care types since the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020.

This reflects the comments from the care seekers we speak with; many of which are choosing to keep elderly relatives at home for longer if their needs are simply companionship, particularly with the cost of living crisis in 2022 which lead to an increase in care home fees.

The drop in the age of nursing referrals over the past couple of years is also significant. We are finding that those needing nursing care have much greater needs and often multiple conditions.

Primary care has been limited throughout the pandemic and while the backlog in the NHS clears, many have seen their loved one's health deteriorate and existing conditions including dementia advance.

These trends have major implications for the sector and the facilities that homes provide. If they are to continue, the average age of someone going into a care home in 2025 will be 80 and by 2030 it will be just 75.