A random sample of 396 elderly people living at home in the Greater London community was interviewed by psychiatrists using standardised assessments. The sample was divided into the old (aged 65–74) and the old/old (aged 75 and over). The proportions with mental illness were identified and excluded from the sample in order to allow comparison of mentally normal elderly persons between these age groups. Surprisingly few differences emerge. No difference in educational attainment appeared, but there was a small diminution (P < 0.01) in intellectual function to clinical testing, in the old/old. Leisure interests were maintained and high level life satisfaction, health and happiness were claimed.

Long-term demographic trends that determine the absolute and relative size of the elderly population also underlie changes in the proportions of older people with living spouses and children. Such changes have important implications for residential isolation, the provision of care and the overall quality of life of the old. Demographic trends influencing the family situations of older people in Britain are discussed and detailed projections presented for women reaching age 60 in the period 1971–96. Increases in the propensity to marry and bear children after about 1940, together with declining mortality, mean that the proportions of older women that are married and that have children are likely to increase until the second decade of the next century. It is often assumed that demographic ageing will result in an increase in the number of elderly women living alone. However, the increase in the proportion of them that are married offsets this trend.

This paper discusses the politics of ageing in the US within a political economy framework. Four forces are shaping US policy: austerity, federalism, deregulation, and the medical-industrial complex. Two major trends in the development of policy are the commodification of the aged and their needs and a class basis for the distribution of benefits, differentiating the deserving elderly from the undeserving elderly. Ideologies of individualism, self-help, privatisation, and procompetition are being used to delegitimate public programmes and to reduce expectations about what government can and should do to ameliorate social problems.

Recent policy is characterised not only by a reduction of federal funds for domestic social spending, but also a restructuring of the community care delivery system as it operates in the private, non-profit sector of the economy. The emergent processes of this restructuring, e.g., targeting of services based on ability to pay and individual characteristics, medicalisation, and absorption of non-profit agencies by for-profits are discussed. These policies and the consequences that flow from them are viewed in light of the search for new sources of capital investment in the domestic markets. This analysis raises important political questions concerning the transformation of relations between the state and the non-profit sector.

In recent years policy initiatives on caring for elderly people have stressed the need for ‘care by the community’: the use of various informal relationships to provide the elderly with more effective forms of care. The present paper analyses the potential of one type of informal relationship – friendship – to act in this way and argues that, despite appearances, friendship is not a particularly suitable basis for care provision. Not only are many elderly people in need of care excluded from the contexts in which friendships are usually generated and serviced, but more importantly the normal exchange basis of friendship is undermined when there is long-term, unilateral provision of care. Similar factors apply to primary carers' friendships. By analysing these issues fully, the paper shows that attempts to incorporate friends into systematic caring is unlikely to be successful. While friends will help in a crisis, in the long run such help is as contradictory to the nature of friendship as it is compatible with it.

Discussions of the position of the elderly have typically been cast in terms of demographic considerations and/or level of industrialisation. In contradistinction to this approach we employ a political economic perspective which reveals the contradictions present in the situation of aged small farmers in southern Italy. Using a dialectic approach, it is argued that the function performed by the small farm sector, that of keeper of the surplus labour force, is extended to deal with the elderly population. Within this context, rurality assumes a permanent posture as the aged farmers are maintained at the margin of the labour market and are eventually expelled from it. At the same time, this farming segment substitutes for other social agencies as a caretaker for a portion of the older population. This function, however, creates social tensions for it mandates continuous State support for the survival of these farms, demands which are resisted by the bourgeoisie and certain segments of the working class. Even if it were deemed appropriate, the State cannot extend its support to small farms without simultaneously calling forth a fiscal and legitimation crisis stemming from its policy coverage.

The division of responsibility for aged people in modern society, between the State and their adult children, has received little systematic attention although the matter remains a perennial item of public debate. This paper reports the Australian experience of debate and legislation in this field. It is argued that the State assumed responsibility for the support of the elderly when, under pressure from prevailing demographic and economic changes, nineteenth-century public welfare, charitable, penal and insane institutions were unable to respond. This claim is illustrated by reference to the legislation, which was passed in several of the States, requiring the provision of intergenerational support for close categories of kin. The reasons for the failure of the measures legislating filial piety are discussed and an assessment is offered of the utility of such schemes.

An attempt has been made to account for the marked heterogeneity in the proportions of the elderly people and in cohort survivorship into old age, between Turkey's 67 provinces in terms of current socio-economic characteristics of the provinces. Because of the difficulties involved in meeting the assumptions of ordinary least squares regression analysis, the multivariate method selected involved the application of principal components regression to determine the patterns of covariance between age structure, ‘survivorship’ and socio-economic conditions. The results indicated that an aged provincial population was typically associated with a rural, agriculturally developed economy, and negatively associated with both an urbanised, industrially developed economy and a rural undeveloped agricultural economy. Survivorship into old age, on the other hand, although being negatively associated with a rural undeveloped agricultural economy, was positively related with both industrial and agricultural development. The role of rural-to-urban migration was felt to confound the relationship between urbanisation, industrialisation and population ageing, suggested by demographic transition theory. Finally some of the implications of the study for the social and economic position of the elderly in Turkey were noted and possible policy directions were identified.

Fifty elders, 61–91 years of age, identified and evaluated the important people in their lives. Characteristics which typified good relationships in general were reciprocity, trustworthiness, friendliness and responsibility. Highest mean scores on the semantic differential scale were found for friends, lowest for neighbours. Significant differences between these two groups indicates that they cannot be combined. Grandchildren did not appear to play a central role in the lives of this group of elders. Spouses gave each other low ratings relative to other groups of supporters. If replicated in a larger sample, the possibility should be investigated that respondents may evaluate intimate relationships on a different ‘psychological yardstick’ than other relationships and relatively low evaluations may not indicate marital dissatisfaction.

Drawing upon a variety of research data and national statistics, this paper presents a detailed analysis of the contribution made by family and informal care to the support of elderly Scandinavians. Comparative data from other countries are employed to highlight some similarities with other European, American and Far Eastern societies. Formal help is directed at the childless and those who live alone, but the conclusions draw attention to the dangers of this concentration if it excludes essential support to overburdened carers.

Focusing on a neglected area of the life cycle, this paper explores the meaning and significance of becoming a grandparent, from the perspective of a sample of couples, becoming grandparents for the first time.

The paper falls into four sections. The first considers why grand-parenthood has been a neglected area in family sociology and in research on the life cycle. The second and third sections use interview data from a prospective study of eighteen couples. The first of these briefly documents the process of becoming a grandparent, from the time when the news is first heard, through the birth of the baby and up to nine months later. The second of these identifies the meaning and significance which these people attached to ‘becoming a grandparent’ and to the role of‘being a grandparent’. The final section discusses the problems which are involved in studying grandparenthood, and in attempting to provide an account of its meaning and significance.

Ageing itself abolishes neither the need nor the capacity for sexual activity. A number of studies confirm the continuance of sexual activity in old age. Normal physiological changes with age affect erectile function and ejaculation in males, and the vaginal tissue in females. Psychological and social factors that affect sexual function in old age include the individual's degree of sexual activity throughout earlier life, the psychological resiliency in adapting to the altered physiological conditions, demographic factors, and society's attitudes towards sex in old age. Furthermore, pathologies that are more prevalent among the elderly can interfere with sexual function.

Drawing upon evidence from Britain, this paper advances the proposition that new generations of older people are experiencing a healthier, materially better off and more satisfying old age. It is argued that both popular and scientific images of later life are out-dated and unduly negative. In advancing this analysis, attention is given to key areas of personal experience and social life: education, leisure and holidays, retirement, voluntary activity, spirituality, economic status, health and political involvement. A re-construction of the societal position of older people is indicated.

Elderly people are often seen as the recipients of informal care. In the study reported here, there are clear indications that carers of mentally handicapped people are predominantly female and often beyond retirement age. For some the task is burdensome, but for many it provides a reciprocity both of care and of companionship. Older carers are observed to receive more professional aid than younger carers. But as demographic trends make this caring relationship more common it will be necessary for formal support systems to become more integrated and comprehensive.

Through a descriptive and analytical account of recent trends in the care of elderly people in Sweden, a number of lessons are indicated for America and countries with similar health and social welfare arrangements. Clarity of objectives within a ‘normalising’ framework; sound organisational arrangements based on small local areas; effective knowledge of services by consumers and cost-effective provision are factors identified as significant.

Elderly people have a relatively low likelihood of becoming a victim of crime, compared with other age groups. Theft rather than violence constitutes the bulk of offences against them. Criminological research indicates that it is not vulnerability but lifestyle and the amount of time spent out of the home which are pre-disposing factors. However, when offences occur they have a disproportionately high personal impact. Ways of reducing both exposure and impact are discussed. These include (1) Hardening the targets (2) Creating more protective environments (3) Encouraging self-help (4) Entrancing awareness of crime and prevention techniques (5) Risk avoidance.

Although much has been written about the problems and suffering of aged persons in contemporary societies, other conditions exist in which third-age persons flourish. This study focuses on the unique qualities of members of professions who not only remain active, but are also engaged in leadership roles (the outcome variable). The study distinguished between leaders and non-leaders, and explored individual as well as groupings of independent variables which may account for these differences. Data were gathered, by means of mailed questionnaires, from persons of retirement age in seven professions in Israel. Data-analysis, besides testing the hypotheses, included devoting attention to interrelationships among independent variables and leadership behaviours of different types of leaders, as well as to leadership patterns within different professions.

Leadership is seen as adding significantly to the richness of the retirement years, and to an ageing person's ability to contribute to improving organisational, neighbourhood, and community life. Implications are suggested for planners of pre-retirement programmes, leisure-time services, and voluntarism opportunities for today's aged.