IN the next 25 years more elderly people are likely to have a surviving child than in any previous or foreseeable future generation in Britain.

The proportion of women aged 80 with at least one child alive will increase from 66% to 75%. The Office for National Statistics' Populations Trends report says the trend is due to people having children at a relatively young age and living longer.

The chance of grandparents being alive and potentially available to help with the care of their grandchildren is higher now than it has ever been before or is ever likely to be, but today's delays in childbearing mean the proportion of people who have a living mother will fall during the second half of this century.

It means the number of people aged 60 with a mother alive more than doubles for those born between 1911 and 1970 but will start to decrease for those born about 1970, that is from 2030.