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June 2004 (Economic and Social Research Council)
Article
Not so brief lives: longevity expectations and wellbeing in retirement
Type: External publications
Published in: Seven ages of man and woman: a look at life in Britain in the second Elizabthan era

The sixth age shifts

Into the lean and slippered pantaloon,

With spectacles on nose and pouch on side,

His youthful hose well saved, a world too wide

For his shrunk shank; and his big manly voice,

Turning again toward childish treble, pipes

And whistles in his sound.

Today's Ѭean and slippered pantaloons' are certainly different to their Shakespearean predecessors. Neither foolish nor doddery, they are instead far better off than even their most

recent counterparts. Those currently at or approaching retirement will receive the most generous state pensions of any generation, and will also have gone through their working

lives in a period of high growth in real wages and real asset prices, both in housing and the stock market.

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