Great Britain is ageing, but doesn’t seem to know it. Despite numerous warnings from official reports, the Government has ignored or neglected the ‘car-crashes’ ahead. Our Health & Social Care services, our pensions system and our housing provision are all in crisis whilst almost every family now faces the dilemma of ageing parents and boomerang children unable to leave home. Yet it doesn’t have to be all doom & grey gloom. In this detailed new book, Martin Slattery seeks to show there is a “silver side” to this Age Revolution; the potential for a New Age manifesto that might propel Ageing up the political agenda, create a new Intergenerational Social Contract and force the government to plan ahead for the 100 Year Life now facing over a third of all children born today. If the Japanese, the Scandinavians and the Bolivians can do it, why not Great Britain? We owe that to our children and to the generations ahead. Welcome to the Ageing World of the 21st Century!

In the 2001 census there were more people over 65 than under 16 for the first time, and 20 per cent of the UK population is expected to be over 65 years of age by 2020. Consideration of this trend normally looks negatively at the economic costs and social problems involved, rather than the biological and psychological processes, and so this report approaches the subject from a scientific perspective. Firstly it examines the demographic background. Then it considers why and how ageing occurs, the ageing process, and the natural degeneration of the human body and mind over time, and looks at those diseases which are particularly prevalent in old age. There are exciting developments in biological research into the causes of ageing, and into what can be done to slow the adverse effects of the ageing process and improve the quality of life of older people. In the case of the individual diseases which predominantly affect older people, research is also showing promising avenues of development in prevention and treatment. Next the report examines the environmental challenges, assistive technology, and the failure of industry to seize the opportunity to exploit the underdeveloped market that the elderly represent. The Committee comments here on the failure to apply existing technologies rather than the pace of new developments. The report also covers management by the Government of health in old age, both for the individual and for society as a whole, and the strategic direction and coordination of ageing-related research. It finds that research is being inhibited by two main factors which are the responsibility of the Government: the treatment of the scientific aspects of ageing as very much the junior partner in any consideration of older people; and a lack of coordination, in particular between the research councils.

This comprehensive text focuses on the social contexts of ageing, looking at the diversity of ageing and older people, and at different factors that are important to experiences of old age and ageing. It includes key chapters on: theoretical and methodological bases for the study of ageing demographic context of the 'ageing' population health and illness family and social networks formal and informal care and other services for older people. Providing an invaluable introduction to the major issues involved in the study of ageing, this book is essential reading for students of sociology, gerontology, social policy, health and social care, and professionals working with older people.

Women have always made up the majority of older people: this examination of the lives of elderly women in Britain in the period 1500 to the present reveals attitudes towards the ageing process. It sheds light on household structures as well as wider issues - including the history of the family, the process of industrialisation, the poor law, and welfare provision - and questions many common beliefs about elderly women, particularly that female old age was a time of poverty and want. An important book for students of history and sociology alike.

Containing over 25,000 entries, this unique volume will be absolutely indispensable for all those with an interest in Britain in the twentieth century. Accessibly arranged by theme, with helpful introductions to each chapter, a huge range of topics is covered. There is a comprehensiveindex.

Ageing, Health and Care provides an international, up-to-date perspective on health and ageing, as well as a comprehensive overview of the health status and experiences of older people. Written by a leader in the field, this textbook covers key questions, such as the fitness of older people in the future, the widening inequalities in the health of older people, and the extent to which health in old age reflects habits and behavior in earlier life. The book includes chapters on physical health, mental health, disability, and lifestyle. Additionally, it offers a synthesis of current policy developments relating to health and social care for older people, and it examines the key debates on the future of health care for the elderly.

This report contains a survey of the main barriers to employment for older workers, an assessment of measures to overcome these barriers, and a set of policy recommendations for the United Kingdom.

This book explores how neoliberalism and austerity have affected older people living within a deindustrialised town, utilising a Foucauldian approach and an ethnographic methodology. It seeks to bridge the gap between high sociological theory and a research focus upon older people. The link between the micro (real people, within a real place) and macro (abstract processes) is examined, and a mid-range theory of change is innovatively developed to highlight how older people are having to negotiate national transformations at the everyday level. Key themes within this book include the recreation of human subjectivity, antiwelfarism, the stigmatisation and exclusion of the poor, the fragmentation of the working class, and nostalgia. Innovative terms such as ‘stigma-adaptation’ and ‘abnormal abnormality’ are included to help deepen our knowledge and understanding of the social sciences, to highlight the injustices caused by current global processes, and to ultimately inform change. This book will be of interest to scholars and students across the social sciences, particularly those studying inequalities in the modern world, neoliberalism and the economy, social theory, ageing and older people and community studies, and postgraduates who are seeking to undertake applied research. It would also be valuable for policymakers and service providers.

* How are individuals and society ageing towards the end of the twentieth century? * How can different disciplines help us to understand the ageing process? * What are the key developments in postmodern thought and critical studies in relation to ageing and later life? In answer to these questions, the editors of this volume have brought together some of the leading figures in the field. Gathered together for the first time in a single volume, the authors discuss the latest theoretical developments in the international field of ageing. Drawing on research from the USA and UK, the book is strongly multi-disciplinary in content with chapters from both social sciences and humanities. The book provides a critical approach to our understanding of the experience of ageing and later life. It has been written for advanced students of gerontology and those with an interest in ageing and later life, but it is also relevant to policy makers and practitioners in the field. Key features: * First time work from the USA and UK has been available in one volume * Wide coverage of the latest trends and theoretical approaches in gerontology * Issues addressed from a range of disciplines - unusual combination of humanities and social science in one volume * Written by leading experts in the field

Rapid fertility declines and improved longevity are now shifting the overall balance of population towards older ages in many parts of the world. Within this growing population of older people there are many groups with particular needs about which relatively little is known. This collection focuses on one such sub-population, the elderly without children. Few would deny that childlessness poses potential human and welfare problems for older people without them. What is less well known is that comparative anthropological and historical demographic research indicates that childlessness is a recurring social phenomenon that has affected 1 in 5 older women in many cultures and historical periods. High levels of childlessness arise not solely or primarily from biological factors like primary sterility, but from a combination of actors. Many, like non-marriage, delayed childbearing , and pathological sterility, reflect the interaction of social and biological influences. Also of major importance are factors that remove the support of children from elders' lives: migration, mortality, divorce, remarriage, family enmity, social mobility, and the pressing demands of family and career on younger generations. The papers collected in this volume employ a mixture of quantitative and qualitative methods to define and characterize the experience of ageing without children.