Changing shades of grey

Exactly 50 years ago, pensioners marched on Westminster demanding a better state pension, in scenes which were repeated earlier this year. But what has changed for retired people in five decades?

HEALTH

Pensioners converged on Central Hall in Westminster in 1954

The marchers in 1954 were the fortunate ones because most people born at the end of the 19th Century died before retirement.

Life expectancy for people retiring now is 84 for women and 81 for men, while researchers in the US predict some human beings alive today will reach 150.

That dramatic increase is partly due to improved health services. For example, more older people are successfully giving up smoking than any other age group, says the Department of Health.

The number of deaths among pensioners from big killers like heart disease has fallen by a third in just the last 10 years.

And more elderly are using breast cancer screening and flu jabs.

No such services in the 1950s, when the smog in London killed 4,000 people in one year.

POVERTY GAP

The gap between the haves and have-nots appears to be widening. Help the Aged estimates two million live on the breadline and some pensioners say it is getting worse as the state pension falls further behind wages.

In 1950, it was 16% of average earnings and is now 14%, a fall hastened by the link between pensions and earnings being broken in 1980.

Every winter more than 1,000 older people in the North East die from a cold-related illness, says Help the Aged, although in Scotland every pensioner home is being fitted with central heating and insulation.

There are fears pensioner poverty will increase in the future because the number of over-80s is predicted to double by the middle of the century.

SCUBA-DIVING

But with the gap widening, the well-off have a choice of pursuits - the image of a coach full of pensioners going to the seaside for their holiday is no longer accurate. Now it's more likely to be elephants than donkeys and Borneo not Blackpool, says Saga.

In 1950, the firm for over 50s began with one holiday destination, Folkestone. Now it offers the Amazon, Thailand and Latin America. Its UK market made up half its sales in 1990, now it's only 8%.

There are all sorts of retired people and some are content not to travel but not me Mollie Dear, 73

Saga's Amanda Monroe says: "It's not just about going somewhere to put your feet up and relax. They're fishing for piranhas, tree-topping, canopy-walking, scuba-diving, elephant-trekking and white-water rafting."

Cheaper travel, more disposable income from property sales and a diminished saving culture have combined to open up the globe to people in retirement.

Mollie Dear, 73, from Hampshire, counts New Zealand, Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Dubai and Scandinavia among recent conquests, with New York ahead in December.

She says: "In New Zealand we shopped and cooked ourselves because it was so beautiful and we did a lot of walking and climbing. There are all sorts of retired people and some are content not to travel but not me."

Mollie says her mother once went to Spain but usually holidayed in the UK.

SILVER SURFING

Forget bowls and Countdown. The internet is an emerging hobby and although only one in five are thought to have tried surfing the net - far below the 62% of the wider population - the numbers are rising.

More retired people are using the internet

Those that do are as likely to be downloading software, music and games as doing their food shopping, research suggests. And e-mail is being credited with helping many to stay in touch with family and friends.

Computer gaming is also a new hobby which was not available to the 1950s generation.

GameBoy addict Barbara Flynn, a 57-year-old grandmother, played Tetris so much she got a thumb injury.

She said: "It has been great for me because not only do I really enjoy it, it has also given me something to talk to my grandchildren about."

MEDIA DISCRIMINATION

The media has been accused by Age Concern of under-representing and stereotyping old people and its new billboard campaign blames programme-makers and advertisers.

TV characters shape our attitudes to old people

Professor Dominic Abrams, who helped in the research, says inaccurate images such as the decaying old person, the Victor Meldrew or the "doddery old dear" were becoming more prevalent on screen.

Advertisers were recently accused in a report by Datamonitor of failing to notice the over-50s because they are "obsessed with youth".

But Dr Felicia Huppert, who studies health in old age at the University of Cambridge, thinks the tide is turning. "We're starting to see more old people portrayed and in better ways. There are plenty of good parts in movies and theatre now, so there's some evidence that things are slowly improving."

Although little research into ageism in the 1950s exists, a glance at the popular television programmes of the decades suggests retired people were just as invisible then as now.

POLITICAL CLOUT

The number of pensioners has shot up from 6.8m in 1954 to 11m today.

And the three political parties recognise that next year's general election could have the most retired voters in history.

Their urgency in making overtures to pensioners intensified earlier this year when rising council tax bills led to protests by elderly people across the UK.

The Labour Government has increased pensions but the Conservatives are writing to every pensioner in a target seat pledging to give them a "better basic state pension than ever before".

And the Lib Dems says they will replace the council tax and bring in free personal care for the elderly, plus a £25 a week increase for over-75s.

But the 1950s generation also got things done in the corridors of power. Following the rally calling for a rise in pension to £2 10s per week, the Conservative government increased single benefits to £2 the following year.