ABSTRACT
This chapter identifies some of the key elements that are shaping contemporary thinking about adult ageing. It explains the rapid demographic changes that have marked the transition from the twentieth to the twenty-first centuries and explores how changes in the relative numbers of older and younger adults have been accompanied by cultural shifts in the meaning of a long life. In 2012, The European Year of Active Ageing and Intergenerational Solidarity made the following announcement: Empowering older people to age in good health and to contribute more actively to the labour market and to their communities will help us cope with our demographic challenge in a way that is fair and sustainable for all generations. The material base, as manifested by economics, had proven an insecure and shifting surface on which alone to build a lasting critique of contemporary ageing in society.
