Abstract

What is the future of old age? How will families, services, and economies adapt to an older population? Such questions often provoke extreme and opposing answers: some see ageing populations as having the potential to undermine economic growth and prosperity; others see new and exciting ways of living in old age. The Futures of Old Age places these questions in the context of social and political change, and assesses what the various futures of old age might be.

Prepared by the British Society of Gerontology, The Futures of Old Age brings together a team of leading international gerontologists from the United Kingdom and United States, drawing on their expertise and research. The book's seven sections deal with key contemporary themes including: population ageing; households and families; health; wealth; pensions; migration; inequalities; gender and self; and identity in later life.
`The greatest strengths of this book are it's breadth of aging-related topics and its ability to provoke thought in the reader. The presentation of both British and American perspectives on elder issues will aid researchers in developing broader perspectives for their work and more sophisticated research questions. As lengthening life spans challenge society to extend it's understanding of late-life development, issues of aging are becoming some of the most important for social scientists to examine, and The Futures of Old Age offers a significant contribution to this field of study.' - PsychCritiques