Care home bills for the elderly could double to £1,000 a week over the next 20 years

Care home bills for the elderly will double to more than £1,000 a week over the next two decades, analysts warned yesterday.

Families face growing burdens because residential and nursing home fees are going up faster than inflation.

The calculations published by Saga said average care home bills are just under £540 a week - £112,312 over the four years that make up the length of a typical stay in a home for an elderly person.

In 20 years' time that will have risen to £223,476 for a four-year stay - £1,074 a week, the company said.

The figures produced for the company by industry analysts Laing and Buisson will add to the growing concern over the way care for the elderly is paid for.

The Government has promised a Green Paper later this year on reforms to a system that is dependent on means-testing and which sees tens of thousands of families each year forced to sell homes to meet care costs.

The report said that while inflation is rising at 2.5 per cent each year, care home fees are going up by 3.5 per cent.

It added that growing numbers of families are likely to have to find a way of paying the costs of a care home place.

At present, the report said, around one in six of those aged over 85 are in long-term care.

However, increasing life expectancy means many more very old people will be around in 20 years' time.

Saga chief executive Andrew Goodsell said: "Those faced with funding care now will already know the extent of the financial burden. However, preparing for the future cost is something-few people want to consider."

Annie Stevenson of Help the Aged said: "This comes as no surprise - we have been warning about the consequences of inadequate funding for social care for a long time.

"It is vital that the Government work to resolve the crisis in funding. Failure to act now means storing up problems for the future, with more people denied the care they need because of financial constraints."

She added: "Care home costs have escalated over recent years and could reach dangerous new heights."

The charity called on Gordon Brown to implement the ideas set down in 2006 by former Treasury troubleshooter Sir Derek Wanless.

He recommended a system in which private contributions to care home bills would be matched pound for pound by the state.

•Hard-working people on low wages are the biggest losers from the means-testing of care for the elderly, a survey has revealed.

They will typically earn between £7,300 and £12,000 - with less than a fifth of their total income coming from state benefits - and own their home.

When they go into care their low incomes mean costs are a more significant burden than for higher earners, says a report by the Resolution Foundation.

The findings come at a time of widespread discontent over the means-test system which requires anyone with savings or property worth more than £21,500 to pay their own bills if they need to go into a care home.