The poorest older people are more than twice as likely to die at any given age than the richest. This is one of the findings from the third wave of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA), which also shows that employment rates for people in their fifties and sixties have been rising in recent years.

The data, which are published on 16th July in the report 'Living in the 21st century: older people in England', make up the third set of results to be released from the most comprehensive study into the economic, social, psychological and health elements of the ageing process in Europe.

The multidisciplinary study follows the life experiences of a cohort of people born before 1952 through detailed interviews on many aspects of their life at two-year intervals 9771 people were interviewed in 2006-07. Aspects considered include: health, work, spending, receipt of healthcare, social participation and cognitive ability. In particular, the report examines an important aspect of diversity: how each of these areas varies according to an individual's level of wealth.

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