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example, in 1900 a man of 65 could expect to live a further 11 years,
whilst today his expectation of life is only another 12 years.
Some of the results of the increasing proportion of old folks
in our midst are all too familiar. We know of the great difficulty in
finding hospital beds for the aged sick and of the great increase in
demands on the home help service in recent years. Not only are there
more old people needing care but they are more willing to accept it
now that the stigma of the Poor Law has been removed. Smaller
families and the tendency of children to seek employment away from
their home town has left fewer close relatives in the vicinity of their
ageing parents. Fortunately only a small proportion of our old folk are
infirm or sick; however, and the majority maintain their health for
than hitherto. This, together with other factors, has led to consideration
of the desirability—both for the individual and the community—of
continuing employment beyond the previously accepted retiring age,
and there is a growing body of evidence to suggest that this actually
helps to postpone the ageing process.
Post-war legislation tacitly assumes that the aged can be meekly
divided into three groups, the able-bodied, the infirm, and the chronic
sick. Unfortunately the old folk have the temerity not to allow themselves
to be thus neatly pigeon-holed, and some even have he audacity
to change from one category to another!
For the able-bodied the Borough Council can provide houses,
and I am pleased to record that you are making special provision on
your new Thames View Housing Estate for these old people. If you
wished, this accommodation could be grouped to form an hostel
and you could also provide laundry facilities and a restaurant service
which, I am sure you will agree, would be a boon to the less active.
The Council also makes financial grants to the Old People's
Welfare Committee, which is thereby enabled to make available
recreational facilities for the aged (such as Old People's Clubs)and to
provide schemes such as that of subsidized mid-day meals. The
bodied also have the opportunity of using such facilities as those
provided by the Health Area Sub-Committee in the foot clinics.
The aged infirm who can be cared for in their own homes are
assisted by the home help service, and they receive supervision from
the health visiting staff (both administered by the Health Area subCommittee).
The "Meals-on-Wheels "service is provided by the old
People's Welfare Committee, whilst if residential accommodation
required this is the responsibility of the County Welfare Committee
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