INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPERS

Pensioners should go back to work because loneliness is more deadly than smoking, according to a report. Picture: Bongiwe Mchunu

Pensioners should go back to work because loneliness is more deadly than smoking, according to a senior No10 adviser.

Strong social relationships in the workplace would actually help people to live longer, David Halpern claimed yesterday.

Mr Halpern - who advises the Prime Minister on his ‘big society’ agenda - said that having ‘someone who loves you’ was a powerful predictor of whether an old person would live for a long time.

In a presentation to a meeting attended by David Cameron, Mr Halpern said: ‘Work matters - particularly for older people - not just for money but absolutely for social contact.

‘We know smoking is really bad for you, but much worse are things like social relationships.

‘If you have got someone who loves you, someone you can talk to if you have got a problem, that is a more powerful predictor of whether you will be alive in ten years’ time, more than almost any other factor.

‘Certainly more than smoking. It’s incredibly consequential for a lot of reasons.’ He told delegates that more than half of people aged over 75 in Britain describe themselves as lonely ‘all or most of the time’.

Mr Halpern also suggested that the elderly should downsize their homes to free up housing stock.

‘A big issue we have is under-occupation of houses,’ added Mr Halpern.

‘We have more TVs than people in the house.

‘We have got not enough houses - actually we do have enough houses, it’s just essentially they are lived in by older people.’

Last year, a report suggested there were 25million empty bedrooms in the country.

It urged ministers to draw up proposals to encourage elderly couples to downsize and create more affordable family homes.

Mr Halpern leads a small unit at the Cabinet Office. It is known as the Behavioural Insight Team - and dubbed the ‘nudge unit’. - Daily Mail