Children outnumbered by over-60s

The statistics point to the ageing nature of the UK's society

People aged over 60 in the UK outnumber children for the first time, according to official figures.

The Office of National Statistics (ONS) revealed 13,262,256 people were 60 or over in mid-2007 - up from 12,928,071 the previous year.

Meanwhile, the number of under-18s fell from 13,119,654 to 13,111,023 over the same time period.

Help the Aged said an older population would require social care reform and the end of "arbitrary" retirement ages.

ONS figures also revealed that the number of migrants coming to the UK for a year or more has risen to a record level.

It said 605,000 long-term migrants arrived between mid-2006 and mid-2007, up from 591,000 in the previous 12 months.

The days of assuming older people are dependants must now come to an end Mervyn Kohler Help the Aged More long-term migrants to UK

The statistics revealed that the population of the UK grew by nearly two million between 2001 and 2007.

The number of people in Britain reached 60,975,000 by the middle of last year, up 388,000 on mid-2006, according to the ONS.

Mervyn Kohler, special adviser at Help the Aged, said: "The key task for policy makers going forward is to ensure that older people can increasingly play an active role in our ageing society.

"The days of assuming older people are dependants must now come to an end."

He added that "an ageing society is a fact of life which should be welcomed and embraced, not treated with concern".