ESRC Society Today

Download issue 20 in PDF format (2.6Mb)

Editorial

• The ageing issue   

Features

• Tough choices for tomorrow's pensioners
  What lies ahead when it comes to financing retirement? New research from the Institute for Fiscal Studies reveals some uncomfortable home truths.
• Time to get wiser about getting older
  Demographic timebomb or not, Britain has an ageing population which creates both challenges and opportunities. Of key importance is how we respond to these now. Four leading experts give their views.
• Women are the age old losers
  Women often lack family support in old age and do not have the pension entitlements or assets to provide for a comfortable retirement. Sarah Womack investigates.    

Interview

• Putting ageing at the top of the political agenda
  Seldom has research been so relevant, says Alan Walker, the man responsible for heading an ambitious new five-year interdisciplinary study on the New Dynamics of Ageing.    

Opinion

• Break down the barriers to reverse ageism
  Baroness Sally Greengross argues that removing age barriers within all aspects of society will bring benefits to us all.    

Research Specials

• Dying without dignity
  Too many older people die without the care and respect they deserve. Researchers are exposing the reality of death for many of Britain's elderly, in the hope of bringing change.
• Never too old to learn
  Does the demand for formal education ever stop? Many older people want to continue learning and ESRC research is discovering that more needs to be done to enable them to do so.    

Research News

• Ethnic minorities gain from devolution
• The downside of fasttrack drug approval
• Rising above it - people in poor neighbourhoods don't stay poor
• Targets divert police attention from crime
• Charities need to brand themselves better 
• Britain wakes up and smells the coffee
• Is our research doing its job? Over to you
• Putting ill-health in its place
• Softly-softly, calm the hooligan
• It ain't what you do, it's the way you do IT
• Policymakers must turn us into sustainable consumers
• I want it now: teenagers as consumers  

Looking Forward

• A selection of ESRC-funded research