How will we cope with growing old? It’s a relatively new question for the human race. A quick look back in time reveals that the Paleolithic era – the Old Stone Age - offered an average life expectancy of thirty-three years. By the 17th century it was forty-eight; the 18th century, fifty-six; the 19th century, sixty-two, while the present life expectancy in the UK is eighty-one years; though many will live for longer. I know an undertaker who regards anyone who dies in their seventies as ‘dying young’. Things have …
