This article examines the mounting pessimism of policy-makers concerning the implications of societal ageing. It is argued that underlying this pessimism are primarily macroeconomic worries about the economic ‘burden’ that older people are said to represent to the economy and, specifically, the working population. It is suggested that, in turn, these particular concerns are ideologically inspired; hence it is the public expenditure costs of pensions and health care rather than, for example, the economic costs of ageing for older people and their families, that are the chief causes of anxiety. Thus political ideology has distorted and amplified the macroeconomic consequences of population ageing in order to legitimate anti-welfare state policies.

While Britain and the US represent leading examples of this trend, there is a danger that, inspired to some extent by the leading international economic agencies, other countries will follow their lead. An unintended result of doing so may be the growth of inter-generational conflict. This concept has achieved quite wide currency in the US literature and has been influential in some policy circles. It is subjected to close scrutiny and found deficient as a basis for policy-making. In conclusion some lessons are drawn about the failure of orthodox social gerontology to counteract the pessimistic accounts emanating from economic and demographic analyses and the need for a more critical stance by the discipline.

Older people are increasing in number and proportion of the population in Latin America and, as they do, their health and social needs are becoming more apparent. This paper describes new initiatives to promote health and well-being in Costa Rica, a Latin American country which is economically poor by international standards, but which is known for its emphasis on health and human services. It draws on research to provide perspectives on health and ageing, discuss initiatives from neighbourhood to nation, and analyse prospects for the future. It emphasises health and ageing in Costa Rica, but identifies issues in terms of their wider significance.

A survey of relatives, friends and others who knew the deceased in a random national sample of adult deaths in England forms the basis of this report. Comparisons of this 1987 sample are made with a similar study carried out in 1969. The sample of deaths was largely one of elderly people, and changes in the family and household compositions of these people reflect changes in the wider population of elderly people. More lived alone, or in smaller family units, and fewer sources of help during their final illness were available from relatives. Women were particularly disadvantaged, both as dependants and carers, who were then bereaved, often themselves left to live alone. The stress and the mixed feelings of carers are described. Nevertheless, a substantial minority were free of serious levels of dependency in their last year of life. Those dying of cancer formed a somewhat younger group, with shorter periods of dependency and greater availability of relatives to look after them. Many of the medical and nursing innovations in the care of the dying have focused exclusively on cancer. This study demonstrates the value of a broader perspective on death and dying that emphasises the needs of older people.

‘Caring’ and ‘carers’ are words in frequent use in social policy, but their meaning is often vague and undefined, encompassing a wide range of activities and relationships. This paper discusses the meaning of caring and focuses particular attention on older carers. Secondary analysis of the 1985 Office of Population, Censuses and Surveys (OPCS) Informal Carers Survey data shows that of the estimated six million informal carers in Britain, the largest contribution is made by women in their early 60s, and that elderly men are more likely than younger men to be carers. The bulk of informal caring work, in terms of total time spent, is provided by co-resident carers, most of whom are a spouse or parent of the dependant. However, the largest number of those receiving help live in separate households, and these are mainly parents or parents-in-law of their carers. The emphasis on elderly people as a ‘social burden’ neglects their contribution as providers of informal care. Over a third of informal care to people over 65 is provided by elderly people. Elderly men and women provide equal amounts of co-resident care, reflecting gender equality in the care of elderly spouses. But among younger people marked gender differences are apparent in co-resident care, and in the provision of informal care to elderly people living in separate households.

Finch and Mason (1990) have recently referred to various articles, by myself and others, concerning the hierarchy of obligations among network members, in relation to decision-making about the provision of practical help to elderly people. In their fascinating and informative case study, Finch and Mason argue that this hierarchy is best viewed as a normative belief which influences negotiation within families, rather than as a way of predicting people's behaviour in practice. I would argue that the question of the relationship between ‘statistical’ norms of behaviour (i.e. what most people do), and normative beliefs (i.e. what people think is the right thing to do), is a question open to empirical investigation. Certainly, it would be a misuse of case study methodology to suggest that failure to adhere to the hierarchy in one particular instance could be advanced as proof that it did not reflect a norm of behaviour. Statistical norms are never deterministic in individual cases, but it may still be possible to predict what the majority of people will do.