Centre for Policy on Ageing



The family life of old people — an inquiry in East London
Author(s)	Peter Townsend
Corporate Author	Institute of Community Studies
Publisher	Routledge and Kegan Paul, London, 1957
Pages	284 pp (Reports of the Institute of Community Studies, 2)
Keywords	Social characteristics [elderly] ; The Family ; Social surveys ; Tower Hamlets.
Annotation	The enquiry set out to find out whether old people were isolated from their families, based on interviews with people of pensionable age in Bethnal Green in East London in the mid 1950s. Part 1 shows most people to be members of closely-knit extended families of three generations, often living in separate households in adjoining streets. The system of family care, the social structure of the home, and the domestic, economic and social relationships between husbands and their wives, and between old people and their children and brothers and sisters are analysed. Part 2 discusses the social problems of old age, in chapters on retirement, poverty, isolation and loneliness, and the characteristics of people using domiciliary and institutional services. Appendices include information on methods used, three interview reports, and examples of diaries kept by old people. (RH).
Accession Number	CPA-930608012 B
Classmark	F: SJ: 3F: 82LV
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...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing.