..as old age changes

Four researchers from Keele University's Centre of Social Gerontology have revisited Bethnal Green, Wolverhampton and Woodford to compare the experience of old age with that recorded in studies in 1948, 1957 and 1960. Four decades ago, the elderly lived mainly with their family. Now it is increasingly the norm for them to live alone or with their marriage partner. Friends and leisure have become more central to older people's lives than they were in the 1950s.