Nearly one in six Jewish households in England and Wales consists of a person aged 65 or older and living alone.

Jews are more likely to live alone than people in England and Wales in general because of the older age profile of the Jewish community, according to a report published this week by the Institute for Jewish Policy Research (JPR).

Around 45 per cent of Jews in their eighties live alone, while that rises to 46 per cent for those in their nineties.

The findings, the report said, call for further investigation into "the extent to which these older and more vulnerable parts of the Jewish population are being supported, as well as the size and nature of issues such as social isolation".

With the retirement of the baby-boomer generation, there would "soon be increased demand for leisure and care services for the elderly".

Overall, one in three Jews in the UK is living on their own, according to JPR's analysis of the 2011 Census.