PAT THANE, MA (Oxford), Ph.D. (London), Fellow of the British Academy, Visiting Professor in History, Birkbeck College, London; Professor Emerita University of London. Publications include: Old Age in English History. Past Experiences, Present Issues (OUP, 2000); Divided Kingdom. A History of Britain 1900 to the Present (CUP 2018). The Rise and Fall of the British Welfare State. From Poverty in 1900 to Poverty in 2023. (London: Bloomsbury forthcoming 2024).
Abstract:
‘Old People’ are regularly stereotyped as frail dependents, ‘burdens’ on younger generations, requiring care and contributing little in return. Based on a study of Britain, the country whose history I know best, since 1900, this paper will present a more complex picture. People have always, at least from medieval times ‘aged’ at differing rates: some fit and active at age 80, others indeed frail in their 50s and 60s and dependent upon ‘welfare’ from others. In Britain since 1900 life expectancy and years of healthy life have steadily grown, allowing growing numbers to remain active late in life, making important contributions to society including through providing welfare to others through voluntary action and administration of public services. There have always been big socio-economic differences with richer people living healthily and remaining active to later ages than the poor. The paper will explore these differences and the diverse roles older people have played in British society and culture over time.