Since 1962 there has been a marked increase in the number of elderly people in Britain living on their own. The present paper presents a detailed examination of the composition of households containing elderly persons in pre-industrial England, in 1962 and in 1980 in conjunction with an overview of the situation in a number of other European countries and in the United States. On the basis of this evidence it is argued that it is impossible to sustain the view of a linear progression from pre-industrial times when the elderly lived with their children to modern times when they live on their own. The final section takes up the question of the variation in the residence patterns of pensioners in England and Wales in 1981 following from the region of residence and the type of property occupied by the household. The highest proportion of pensioners living on their own were found in the eastern half of the country, excluding London and the adjacent metropolitan area, but including Manchester. Pensioners who were owner-occupiers were more likely than council tenants to be living with 2 or more non-pensioners. On the other hand, only in the case of the private tenant did the nature of the tenure remove all trace of the regional variation and the inference was drawn that social class, occupation and local tradition were influencing the residence patterns independently of the effect of tenure.

The focus of this paper is on the part played by children and relatives in the care of the elderly in a Devonshire parish in the mid-nineteenth century. The cohort of men and women aged 50–59 years recorded in the 1851 census was divided into two groups, according to whether or not the parish registers or censuses showed members to have had offspring who survived childhood. Cohort members and their families were then traced through the 1861 and 1871 censuses in order to establish their residence patterns at different stages in the life cycle. It was found that children, whether married or single, played a considerable part in providing care for their elderly parents. By contrast, relatives living in the same household as the elderly were more likely to be receiving than providing care. The possibility that a proportion of the cohort members who left the parish during the period did so to join children elsewhere was investigated through an examination of those of comparable age coming into the parish.

The position of the older person in society as well as in the workforce is receiving an increasing amount of attention at the present time. However there is very little historical knowledge as to the forces which shaped the withdrawal of older persons from gainful economic activity earlier this century. The research outlined below explores some of the precedents which shaped contemporary attitudes towards older workers in general, and the relationship between age and unemployment in particular — during a period of low labour demand.