Aspirations for later life: a report of research carried out by the National Centre for Social Research on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions (Research Report No 737)

Abstract

This research report presents new survey findings on people’s aspirations for later life (that is, aged 60 onwards) in Great Britain. The survey sought to determine whether people hold aspirations for their later life and, if so, what these might be. In addition, it sought to provide an insight into what are the enablers and barriers to achieving these aspirations. Questions were asked of adults of all ages, not just those in middle and older age groups to explore when people start thinking about later life and how these attitudes change across the life cycle. This survey was carried out as part of the National Centre for Social Research Omnibus Survey. The sample was drawn from the Postcode Address File (PAF), commonly used in general population surveys. Face-to-face interviews were carried out in summer 2010. A total of 1,867 adults aged 16 years and over took part in the survey. However, it was assumed that respondents aged 45 to 65 years (i.e. those closer to retirement) would be most likely to have aspirations for later life, and so the number of respondents in this category was boosted, to allow more detailed analysis of their answers