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due to improved medicine which has brought it about that at the
age of 65 people have a longer expectation of life than they had 50
years ago. Of course, it may be due to the fact that a relatively large
number of babies were born at the turn of the century, and that,
therefore, we should now normally expect a lot of people of the age
of 65 and upwards.
"I mention these facts to show that an alteration in social conditions,
and particularly fluctuations in the birth rate, may possibly
mean that the problem to-morrow will not be the same as the problem
to-day, and having regard to the fact that the life of a house is from
50 to 100 years, we ought to think about the problem of to-morrow
before we assess what is the size of the problem with which we should
deal to-day. However, insofar as not for many years are we likely
to build too many houses of this sort, we need not worry our heads
about it, save only to remember that the problem is there.
"To put the thing in a nutshell, our personal problem is not so
much adding years to life as it is adding life to years. We know
people of 60 and 70 are much more spry than they were 50 years
ago, and I see no reason why, in the future, people should not lead
active and useful lives at an age when years ago it would have been
looked upon as a crime if they had not been in retirement.
"Elsewhere, I hope to be writing on the contribution these
people are able to make to both the economic and social work of the
world. To-day I will content myself with the barest outline and say
that at the age of 60 a man should be relieved of the obligation of
doing any duty at a particular time; particularly he should be relieved
of the necessity of answering important questions right away. This,
however, does not mean to say but what in his own time, and at
his own speed, such a man is not capable of doing a very considerable
amount of useful work.
"To come from these general principles to the actual housing
of these people I would like to say I do believe we should house
them, as I know you agree, near centres of social and cultural activity
so that at least they would feel they have the opportunity of engaging
in such activity if they so wish. At the same time, their homes should
be so placed that when they do want to stir abroad they have
something to interest them, particularly in the way of trees and
gardens, or even bird sanctuaries. I myself believe it is quite possible
to have even a day nursery close to these homes for the aged, because
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