The Pluses of Being 50 Plus

I have just been given some information on an interesting experiment in intergenerational learning. Have a look at a site set up in Wales to promote English teaching by using grandmas. Not quite sure why grandads do not seem to have a role in this!  However, a fascinating venture which...

Read more

This has always seemed instinctively correct but some recent research now backs this up. Research from Purdue University in the United States, published in The Journal of Gerontology, has found that feeling that you’re younger than you are can make a big difference to your mental abilities. "How old you are matters,...

Read more

Did that get your attention? Men are more than twice as likely as women to be sexually active in old age but good health is the key for both to feeling naughty, says a study published Wednesday by the British Medical Journal.One survey covered 3,000 people aged 25-74 who filled...

Read more

Have a look at an article by Emma Soames published in todays Daily Mail in which she gives examples of many women still working and wanting to work well into their 60's. Again her case studies concur with what all the research is telling us which is namely that most...

Read more

I just came across a blog that is worth checking out from time to time - Live  for the Moment. In the latest posting I came across this quote which I reproduce here."People want to take the ‘tired’ out of retired. Retirement is no longer a matter of ’stop work...

Read more

Well - after all of the good news in the last posting about happiness and ageing this should bring us down to earth. Rates of sexually transmitted infections have doubled among the over 45s in less than a decade, reveals research published ahead of print in the journal Sexually Transmitted...

Read more

This is the fascinating graph reported by German and American scientists who analysed the results of a long-term British survey in which more than 21,000 men and women were regularly asked how happy they were with their lives. They replied on a scale of one to seven, with one meaning...

Read more

Most of you will be aware that the other main project in which I am involved is the study of portfolio careers as an increasingly popular choice of career pattern or work style. We have had a great deal of positive publicity for this and recently in talking to a...

Read more

OLDER Scarborough residents are being encouraged to get on their bikes after the launch of a new scheme. Free one-to-one cycling training is being offered to motorists over...

Read more

Divorce among the over-50s has soared by 19 per cent to 23,000 a year since 1998, official figures show. The overall UK divorce rate fell 16 per cent to 130,000 a year.“Suddenly singles”, widows and those entering their 50s and 60s not in a relationship make up the particularly high...

Read more

TAEN has produced a most enlightening summary of how the US and Canada compare with the UK in how they deal with mandatory retirement.   The US abandoned it in 1986 and the Canadians in 2009. There is an excellent review of the arguments typically advanced by employers to justify mandatory...

Read more

An excellent article in the Economist gives many examples of companies that are leading the way in maximising the potential of older workers. A forthcoming article in the Harvard Business Review by Christoph Loch of INSEAD and two colleagues looks at what happened when BMW decided to staff one of...

Read more

Well - see the article in the Daily Mail and judge for yourself!  Fasting every other day may be a way to live longer as well as lose weight.It may also lower the risk of conditions such as heart disease and cancer, as well as ease symptoms of chronic ailments. Research...

Read more

A study has found that not only are more over-50s using the internet, but it's actually improving their mental health. More than 2,000 silver surfers were quizzed by Dadooda.com about their online habits and the report found that the over-50s spend an average of 26 hours a week online. Most...

Read more

It is not just Valentine's Day today but also Chinese New Year - the year of the Tiger no less. I was reminded of this by looking at the latest posting on my daughter's website - she is an acupuncturist in Leeds (a brilliant one of course). I have borrowed...

Read more

Presumably as well as how we live our lives. A British research team made this discovery after studying the DNA of more than 12,000 people and identifying one stretch of DNA that clearly sped up ageing, the journal Nature Genetics reports.Up to 7 per cent of the population has two copies...

Read more

I was amused to come across this website the other day. It's a nice domestic type of personal blog but what got my attention was Ashley's description of herself as ,"I'm a 20-something married girl living in a 50's housewife's body". Just how often do you hear people in the...

Read more

Never let it be said that I do not listen to opposing views so go to Personnel Today again to read what Katya Hall from CBI has to say about this vital issue. Of course I still think she is wrong and portrays British management as a very poor set...

Read more

Rachel Krys, campaign director for the Employers Forum on Age, has written a most insightful article for Personnel Today in which as well as arguing against the DRA on age discrimination grounds points out the strange and very old fashioned thinking that emanates from the CBI on this issue. This...

Read more

This is the title of an entertaining article by Brian Groom in the FT this week. He takes a bit of a swipe at David Willetts new book the subject of which is clear from its title: The Pinch: How the Baby Boomers Stole Their Children’s Future and How They...

Read more

I was recently contacted by Bill Vicks in Texas who is a portfolio worker and amongst other things has a site called BoomersNext Step.com.  Bill interviewed me about the work that Mike and I have been doing relating to the over 50's and it kind of moved over into the...

Read more

Spain's government said Friday it had approved a plan to raise the official retirement age from 65 to 67 to help social security system to cope with a rapidly ageing population.Deputy Prime Minister Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega said the plan, which would be debated in parliament, "would bring...

Read more

Chris Roebuck, a professor at Cass Business School, reckons his research has shown that older workers are more focused and determined, more motivated to exceed expectations, easier to engage, take a longer term view, and better at dealing with difficult situations. Even if their energy levels are declining, he adds,...

Read more

An excellent article in the Times by Baroness Prosser today states that: "A quiet revolution is taking place in attitudes towards ageing and work. The stereotype used to say that older workers were winding down as they watched the clock. Research from the Equality and Human Rights Commission shows...

Read more

Psychometric testing is expensive so imagine my amazement at discovering a new website offering free personality testing with more to come. It has been set up by psychometricians who worked for SHL - one of the leading psychological test constructors in the UK. The first test they have is based...

Read more