Related Articles Evidence is now emerging of the dangers associated with elderly people becoming lonely and isolated after retiring. The increase in the retirement age could lead to a wider change, under plans set out by Mr Halpern, the director of the No.10 Behavioural Insight Team, known as the "nudge unit". He heads the government team which has the task of developing ways to change people's behaviour that do not require legislation or other heavy-handed actions from the state. In a presentation, Mr Halpern said pensioners should be encouraged to return to work because of the benefits of social interaction for the elderly. He told delegates at the Stockholm summit that more than half of those older than 75 in Britain described themselves as lonely "all or most of the time". "Work matters, particularly for older people, not just for money, but absolutely for social contact," he said. Mr Halpern presented a graph showing the links between health and a variety of lifestyle factors. "We know smoking is really bad for you," he said. "But much worse are things like social relationships. "If you have got someone who loves you, someone you can talk to if you have got a problem, that is a more powerful predictor of whether you will be alive in 10 years, certainly more than smoking." Mr Halpern said Britain faced a shortage of housing, partly because elderly people remained in family homes after their children left. "A big issue we have is under-occupation of houses,"