Increase in county's elderly population (From Western Telegraph)

Increase in county's elderly population

PEMBROKESHIRE is facing a population crisis with pensioners set to dominant the county within 20 years. Even conservative estimates predict an explosion in the elderly population, with over 65s making up at least a quarter of the population and a third of all adults by 2021, compared to 19% and 24% respectively in 2002.

The 50-65 age band doubles those figures, with over half the county's population expected to be 50 years old or above.

"The number of people of pensionable age in Pembrokeshire is set to increase considerably over the next 20 years, as the overall population continues to grow," said a county council spokesman.

"Pembrokeshire County Council is working towards implementing the Strategy for Older People in Wales, which was launched by the Welsh Assembly Government in January 2003, in recognition of local and national trends.

"Meanwhile the authority's elderly and infirm overview and scrutiny committee has been examining various alternatives to residential care and ways of supporting older people with fewer people to do it."

The figures show an ever-expanding growth rate in the elderly population over the past 20 years with the rate set to increase at an even greater pace in future.

Meanwhile, the numbers of children in the county have shown a steady decline, both percentage-wise and in real terms over the same period. In 1981, there were 31,800 youngsters in Pembrokeshire, 29.6% of the population.

By 2002 that figure was 28,600 and estimates predict it be just 23,000 by 2021, despite the overall population of the county continuing to increase.

A major part of the problem is the decline on the 20-35 age group, which is expected to have fallen from 22,000 in 1981 to 12,000 in 2021, as youngsters leave to attend college or find better paid work.