Intentional Communities in the UK and Their Response to an Aging Population

We are an ageing society in the UK, with the median age in the 1970s being 34 years, shifting upwards to just over 40 years in 2020. As with other ‘developed’ nations, care, inclusion and celebration of our elders still eludes us with many elders spending their later years experiencing poorer housing, reduced social contact and lower levels of autonomy.  It is argued that many of our social attitudes to older people are tied up in the capitalist context that production (being productive) equals an individual’s worth. Another argument is that the nature of living in a period of advanced capitalism places increasing pressure on time and resources, reducing time for community and commodifying acts of care which in turn distort notions of care, responsibility, and obligation.

                                    This paper explores the way four different intergenerational intentional communities in the UK have responded to their own ageing populations.  Drawing on a series of interviews, community members reflect on their own and their communities’ response (or non-response) to a gradual, often unintended, drift to an older demographic.   Participants reflect on the experience of living in community and the challenges that ageing presents.  Findings suggest that individual community members are often reluctant to acknowledge their own vulnerability to ageing and that communities can be willing but sometimes struggle to begin the process of making change to accommodate the needs of their elders.