Alan Walker Blames Ageism and Patriarchy for Social Care Failures

She rejects Toynbee’s claim that the old must pay for the old, noting social care is relied on by people of all ages. Alan Walker, professor of social policy and social gerontology at the University of Sheffield, attributes the system’s failures to patriarchal assumptions that care is women’s domestic work and to a deeply ageist society that tolerates preventable deaths. Janet Touhey, a reader in her 70s from Newark, Nottinghamshire, says she worries about affording future care and would support paying a percentage of her estate or increased taxes for peace of mind, hoping Andy Burnham can resolve the issue.