Richard Smith

Today those aged 60 and over make up slightly more than 1 in 5 of the​ ​UK population. It is tempting to believe that in the distant past, because there were fewer older people, they enjoyed a greater cachet. But how far is this view born out in the English case by the findings of historical demography? Is it correct to regard age structures over the deeper past as unvarying through time? 

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