On Wednesday, 22 February, the International Longevity Centre – UK (ILC-UK) and Cass Business School hosted the launch of a new report entitled Does living in a retirement village extend life expectancy? The case of Whiteley Village.

The UK population over age 65 is projected to increase by more than 40% during the next 17 years to over 16 million; while the number of people in the UK over age 85 is expected to double during the next 23 years to more than 3.4 million. With the population ageing so rapidly, finding ways in which the older population can live their later lives in relative health and comfort has become an increasingly important issue in the UK.

One relatively recent development is the creation of retirement villages in the UK, to house and care for the increasing numbers of older people who are attracted to this type of communal retirement living. Until now, studies of retirement villages have sought to examine funding options or quality of life outcomes for residents. However, this new report is the first of its kind to consider whether retirement village life can extend life expectancy.

Using Whiteley Retirement Village as a case study, and utilising a century’s worth of data derived from resident records, this report examines differences in life expectancy between Whiteley Village residents compared to the general population; it also accounts for gender and socio-economic disparities in life expectancy.

The presentation slides from the event.