Targeted as the ‘grey consumer’, people retiring now participated in the creation of the post-war consumer culture. These consumers have grown older but have not stopped consuming.
Based on extensive analysis over two years, this unique book examines the engagement of older people with consumer society in Britain since the 1960s. It charts the changes in the experience of later life in the UK over the last 50 years, the rise of the ‘individualised consumer citizen’ and what this means for health and social policies.
The book will appeal to students, lecturers, researchers and policy analysts. It will provide material for teaching on undergraduate courses and postgraduate courses in sociology, social policy and social gerontology. It will also have considerable appeal to private industry engaged with older consumers as well as to voluntary and non-governmental organisations addressing ageing in Britain.
表中的内容
Social change and later life; The historical evolution of the third age; Cohort, generation and time; Consumption and the changing nature of the household in later life; Later life in consumer society; Income, expenditure and inequalities in later life; Consuming health in later life; Health and social policy: a moving target; Conclusion.
关于作者
Paul Higgs is Professor of the Sociology of Ageing at University College London. He has published widely on the changing nature of later life and is a co-editor of the journal ‘Social Theory and Health’. Paul is also a fellow of both the Academy of Social Sciences and the Gerontological Society of America.