From the future of ageing in the UK to downsizing and sex amongst the over 85s, 2016 has witnessed the ILC-UK influence public discourse and provoke a series of national discussions.

In January, ‘Drink Wise Age Well: Alcohol use and the over 50s in the UK’ presented new primary research from a large scale study, the largest of its kind exploring alcohol use and behaviours in the over 50s population. The report was featured in The Sunday Sun, The Sunday Times, The Daily Mail, The Express and The Telegraph, and report partners Addaction were interviewed on the BBC1 Breakfast Show.

In ‘Generation Stuck: Exploring the reality of downsizing in later life’, ILC-UK Research Fellow Brian Beach presents the benefits and the challenges of downsizing in later life, and reframes the debate from one of intergenerational conflict, to how best to increase housing choice and information for older people. ‘Generation Stuck’ was featured on BBC Radio 4’s You and Yours programme, and in the Financial Times, The Express, The Sunday Times and in three separate articles in the Daily Mail.

In terms of ILC-UK blogs, Cesira Urzì Brancati’s ELSA analysis of ‘Sexual desire and activity in later life’ made more than 2.7 million unique impressions on Twitter. It was also featured in The Independent, The Daily Mail, The Times, The Express, The Telegraph, and internationally in the New York Daily News and the popular US news website The Drudge Report. Also, at the beginning of March, Policy and Public Affairs Assistant Dave Eaton participated in The Big Question’s debate on the State Pension Age on BBC 1.