At a recent council meeting, EDDC Chief Exec , Mark Williams, referring to the age profile of some East Devon communities, apparently described older people as “unproductive”.

Perhaps he should chat to the Bank of England chief economist quoted here:

“… The British Household Panel Survey (BHPS) has asked 5,500 households across the UK about the nature and scale of their volunteering activities. If extrapolated, the data suggests volunteering in the UK might amount to as much as 4.4 billion hours per year equating to 1.7 hours per week for every UK adult aged over 16 years.

The survey found volunteering to be more prevalent among older people. Data published by NCVO in June 2015 found levels of ‘formal volunteering’ declined at the start of the recession, increased during the recovery and is now stable.” …

http://www.rsnonline.org.uk/analysis/the-visibility-and-quantification-of-rural-volunteering