Continuity and change in the family and community life of older people

The research reported here examines the family and community networks of el derly people living in three urban areas of England: Bethnal Green (an inne r-city area of London), Wolverhampton (a metropolitan borough in the West M idlands), and Woodford (a northeastern suburb of London). These were the lo cations for landmark community-based studies in the 1940s and 1950s, The pr esent study shows that although most older people still have kinship-based networks. the ways in which kinship is experienced-especially concerning th e interchange of care and support-are different. Relationships between the generations have altered, with support more often being located within a fr amework of equality and mutual reciprocity. Predictably, too, retirement is now more common, with leisure activities being much more central to the li ves of older people. The study raises questions about how policy and practi ce now need to respond to what is a much more complex and dynamic experienc e of the family and community lives of older people.