Behind contemporary man's age-old fears of personal ageing, behind the anger of social critics at our treatment of the old, or behind the sociologist's analysis of the decay of family mutuality, there often lies a mental image of the golden age past. In this picture, much favoured by politicians and the media, the old were revered; their wisdom and experience were shared with youth; family hearths extended generous welcomes to grandmothers and grandfathers; and, in rural society, especially, family support and household production enabled the old to adapt to increasing infirmity with dignity and at their own pace. In recent years, historians have been able to show that such rose-coloured views of old age in the world we have lost are largely myth. Over twentieth-century lifetimes, our typical experience of old age and our ideas about retirement have both undergone profound changes, and they are not uniformly happy innovations. If we are to analyse them, it will be as well to start off with an understanding of the social and economic experience of old age in the society which gave birth to them, rather than with myths of lost joys and innocence.

Pessimism about old age is not, of course, new. As long ago as 1776, Adam Smith was bemoaning the decline in respect for the old and observing that advanced nations treated their aged citizens badly.