This paper is concerned with the nature, usage and potential of the concept of lifestyle. It concentrates on usage in social gerontology and specifically on the way in which it has been used by three teams of American researchers. Its overall aim is to discover guidelines for establishing the lifestyle concept on a sounder methodological footing.

The paper begins with a discussion of diversity within the elderly population and it identifies the need for a systematic conceptual scheme for describing the social life of the individual. It examines the relationship between lifestyle and social class and concludes that they represent complementary rather than competing approaches. The paper goes on to explore three definitions of life-style - as structure, content and meaning - and compares and contrasts these three alternative approaches. The difference between ‘nominal’ and ‘real’ definitions is discussed and the paper ends with a summary account of the way in which the concept has been operationalized in a continuing British study.

Introductory descriptions of the contemporary ‘old age phenomenon’ tend to draw heavily upon demographic statistics. An analysis of such descriptions in popular books on retirement show that the ways in which these are presented and interpreted reflect a certain set of beliefs concerning the concept of old age. Critical to this ideology is the dissociation of old age and death. Together with indicators of the unprecedented expansion of old age, this creates an image of old age that has doubtful validity.

Although general family involvement is heralded as critically important for the elderly, the importance of the specific family involvement of grand-parenthood remains surprisingly little understood. The present study integrates qualitative and quantitative methodologies: 11 grandparents completed a series of five open-ended interviews, 19 grandparents participated in single open-ended interviews, and 286 grandparents completed lengthy quantitative questionnaires. In contrast to previous studies reporting that there is little relationship between grandparenthood experience and life satisfaction, current findings indicate that grandparenthood serves a compensatory function with respect to life satisfaction and morale, particularly for those individuals who are most deprived and who have fewest sources of satisfaction. Ageing persons seem to use grandparenthood to enhance their mental health; in grandparenting they capitalize on their existing strengths and re-work existing weaknesses.

As a result of the institutionalization of retirement and the development of an ageing population, a keen discussion has emerged concerning the nature of retirement education. Two major research projects (at the Universities of Keele and Surrey) have begun; and the number of books and articles devoted to the theme has expanded enormously over the past two years. However, despite this attention, pre-retirement education (PRE) is still struggling to find a secure foundation within the range of occupational and social policies affecting the older worker. There remains a feeling that it has yet to demonstrate its full value or potential – either to employer or employee. In this paper I shall argue that the reasons for this can be traced partly to the post-war origins of PRE, and the way these origins influenced the trajectory taken by retirement education. I shall go on to examine the effectiveness of PRE; to look at arguments about the adequacy of its present structure; and finally, look at the likely shape of future developments in the area of retirement education.