ABSTRACT
The extent to which old people dominated the thoughts of those concerned with the social services is illuminating. An enormous number of surveys of old people were undertaken all over the country in the twenty or so years after the war. Some were very small, some involved enormous numbers of interviews, some covered speci<d groups-like the Stockport survey which confined itself to the over 8os, or the Plymouth survey which studied the needs of the housebound. The whole series is a fascinating example of the intensity of national interest in this problem. It highlighted the inadequacy of provision for old people, and pointed out the need for a solution of the problem other than the Beveridge solution. It was one of the influences that led the government into a fundamental break with the Beveridge principle of uniform flat rate benefits, in the introduction of a graduated pensions scheme in 1959· The final series of surveys culminated in a large-scale investigation undertaken by the National Assistance Board itself and published in 1966.
