German centres bring lonely older people and children together
Now, it seems, the Germans have a thing or two to teach us about intergenerational living. They have created centres where older people and children mix, to the advantage of both. These multigenerational houses, as the UK’s Institute for Public Policy (IPPR) says, “recreating some of the extended family ties that people just don’t have as much anymore”.
The mothers’ centre in Salzgitter provided the first German role model in 2006. The idea, pioneered by the then family minister was to bring together under one roof, groups that had previously operated in isolation from each other – childcare groups, youth centres, mothers’ clubs, advice centres and communities for older people.
These multi-tasking houses were designed to offer an alternative for older people, who often feel lonely, and for young families who need support but have no grandparents living nearby.
Here in the UK we are regularly presented with headlines warning us of our “epidemic of loneliness” or telling us that “loneliness is killing us”. Only recently an American report revealed that lonely older people are nearly twice as likely to die prematurely as those without feelings of isolation.
In Germany, the 2006 Salzgitter model was followed, in 2012, by second stage multi-generation houses, with funding for 450 centres. The financial support was part of the German government’s demography strategy, under which nearly all administrative districts have their own such houses.
Compare this with last year’s depressing report from the House of Lords which found that the UK was “woefully unprepared” for the social and economic challenges presented by its ageing population.