Centre for Policy on Ageing



Old age in English history
Author(s)	Pat Thane
Journal title	IN: Toward a cultural history of aging; edited by Christoph Conrad, Hans-Joachim von Kondratowitz, 1993
Publisher	Deutsches Zentrum für Altersfragen, Berlin, 1993
Pages	pp 17-38
Keywords	Older people ; Social characteristics [elderly] ; Personal relationships ; Histories ; England.
Annotation	This paper suggests that there are long-run continuities in the history of old age in England: in features of the experiences of older people, and in the treatment of and attitudes toward them. There is no evidence of a significant decline over time in the degree to which "old people" were valued in English society. However, there is a long history of older people wishing to remain independent until as late in life as possible, while there was also an obligation on children to give emotional - and if necessary - material support to their parents. Until the 1870s, those who could not be self-supporting received charity or poor law relief funded through local taxation. Attempts to cut back on such payments and attendant poverty created eventually led to the introduction of the state old age pension in 1908. (RH).
Accession Number	CPA-990420208 A
Classmark	B: F: DS: 6A: 82
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...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing.