Archbishop of Canterbury criticises contempt and abuse of elderly people The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, said contempt towards older people was fostering verbal and physical abuse. Old people are not a burden to society and negative views of them lead to a climate where they can be abused, the Archbishop of Canterbury has said. In his final speech in the House of Lords, Dr Rowan Williams said attitudes of "contempt and exasperation" towards the ageing population were contributing to a range of abuse, from patronising and impatient behaviour to physical mistreatment. He referred to estimates that a quarter of the older population experience abuse in some form and called for the government to appoint a national Older People's Commissioner. Williams, who will step down from his role at the end of the year to be replaced by the Bishop of Durham, Justin Welby, said: "We tolerate a very eccentric view of the good life or the ideal life as one that can be lived only for a few years between, say, 18 and 40." The public are becoming "dangerously used" to speaking and thinking about the ageing population as a burden on both public and private resources, he added, despite half of over-60s carrying out volunteer work worth the equivalent of at least £50bn. He believes expecting and valuing their continued contribution to society will end damaging stereotypes and older people will no longer be viewed as dependent on the state, their families or their neighbourhoods. "It is assumptions about the basically passive character of the older population that foster attitudes of contempt and exasperation, and ultimately create a climate in which abuse occurs," he said. Speaking on Friday, Williams described a divided society where the importance of youth is emphasised and the value of age ignored. A great deal of our culture is frenetically oriented towards youth - notably in entertainment and marketing. This is understandable up to a point: people want to put down markers for the future as they see it," he said. But its effect can be both to ignore the present reality of responsible, active people in older life, who are still participants in society, not passengers - and to encourage younger people to forget that they are ageing themselves, and that they will be in need of positive and hopeful models for their own later years.