Defining Third Age
Dave Fenton shares his thoughts on what it means to be in The Third Age...
Defining what is meant by ‘Third Age’ may be
trickier than you think. It can be seen as an
‘autumn’ period, where life slows down and you
have time for all the things you couldn’t do when
you were working or bringing up a family. Others
see it as a time of fresh opportunity, when there
are less unavoidable responsibilities.
John Chapman favours the second view:
‘I am 76 years old. You may think it strange that I am thinking about making the most
of the rest of my life. Humanly speaking, I don’t have all that much left. The average
male lives for 79 years. That doesn’t leave me much time. On the other hand, if there
is life after death, if eternity is really eternity and I have the greater bulk of my life to
look forward to, then that makes all the difference.’
(John Chapman – ‘Making the most of the rest of your life’)
The stats
You may be interested to see a selection of statistics – for example these current
and predicted figures taken from ONS figures collected by Age UK:
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In 2015 there are 14.9 million people living in the UK who are 60 or over.
There are more in this group than those who are under 18.
By 2030 this figure is set to pass 2 million.
By 2086 about one in three people will be over 60.
Department for Work and Pensions figure report that there are now about
14,000 centenarians in the UK. This will rise to around 26,000 in 2012,
65,000 in 2031 and 280,000 in 2051! Nearly one in five people alive today
will live until their 100th birthday
In my own city of Winchester, under the banner of ‘Methodist Live at Home’, there is
an initiative called ‘Support and Choice for Older People’. Of their 200+ members:
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Over half were in the 80 to 89 bracket
About one sixth each in the 90+ bracket
One sixth in the 70 to 79 bracket
One sixth in the 60 to 69 bracket
88 % said they had a free bus pass, although only 40% used it
What are Third Age People like?
So what are Third Age people actually like
and who are they? There have been varied
attempts to ‘define’ them. Some say there are
between certain ages (say 65 to 74, although
other age bands are also used.) Some use a
descriptive phrase like ‘at, or near retirement’.
In a report called ‘Ageing in a Consumer
Society’ (Policy Press 2008), Third Age
people are described as:
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Happy to spend money on pleasure and leisure
In good health
With 10 or 20 years ahead
Energetic
Possessing particular life-stage world-views – moulded by living through
the 1960s
The largest 10-year cohort of churchgoers
Many Third Age people are grandparents. Peter Brierley states that there are
750,000 church-going grandparents who each have an average of 4.4 grandchildren.
The ‘SAGA Generation’
The author of a Church Army paper published in
2005, came up with the term ‘SAGA Generation’ –
sometimes referred to as the ‘Young-Old’, ‘aged
55-75’, ‘the working active’ and ‘the retired
independent’.
The SAGA Generation is often defined as those
born towards the end of the Second World War,
who were teenagers in the 60s and became
known as the ‘baby boomers.’
What have they witnessed?
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Young families re-populating the country after the war
The rise in a general belief that ‘we younger people can make a difference
to the world’
The beginning of the welfare state
The birth of a permissive culture – the contraceptive pill, easier divorce,
changed lifestyles encouraged by film, music and the arts
The first ‘TV generation’
The rock/pop years and the rise of mass music festivals
A decline of Christian influence in Britain
An influx of different cultures and spiritualities into British society
A general rise of disposable income available for clothes, leisure activities
and home improvements etc.
The growth of more affordable family holidays in the UK – initially Butlins,
soon followed by the growth of the package holiday
Improved standards of living in the home
‘SAGA’ as an organisation, has recognised a gap in the holiday and other markets.
They are well organised and know their target audience. They recognise a
generation who would ‘come out and fight’ with political and economic clout: the socalled ‘grey-warriors’.
SAGA considers that this generation:
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Have better health, more time and energy than the previous generation
Are counter-cultural to the stereotypical image of the current age
Hold different values to an older age group (fourth generation born in the
Thirties or earlier)
Are becoming increasingly computer literate
Are somewhat ‘anti-institution’
Do not all have disposable income or plenty of time. For instance, many
are carers or have chosen to work beyond retirement age
You could summarise this group as a New-Old generation, some of whom never
really gave up their youth culture! Perhaps that’s why rock band ‘The Who’ coined
the lyric ‘Hope I die before I get old’ in their 1965 album ‘My Generation’.
The Third Age and Christianity
Steve Hollinghurst from The Church Army
suggests that the SAGA generation is the first
generation to enter ‘Post-Christendom’:
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About 80% of 90 year olds would have
attended church as children.
About 30% of 33 year olds would have
attended church as children.
Somewhere in the middle of this are the SAGAs. Of those just past 40 about 9%
attend church at least monthly, which leaves a huge proportion of this generation
knowing little or nothing about the Christian faith.
Twentieth century factors:
What are the factors which have created this situation?
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The Bible being reduced by literary
criticism and scientific enquiry to
fabricated myth. Seen as possessing
good moral content, but now some of
that also being challenged.
The devastating effects of the two
World Wars on peoples’ mentalities.
1900 - 2000 has been marked out as a
century of war, with professional
armies.
Very few towns and
households were untouched by this.
Scientific confidence – a widespread shift from believing in a divine being
to trusting only in an existing scientific solution. Highlighted by the
popularity of Richard Dawkins’ works.
The emergence of the ‘teenager’ – ages 13-19 increasingly regarded as
the time when people ‘grow-up’.
The growth of a counter-culture, based upon ‘love and peace’ – much
more widespread than the ‘hippie’ movement.
Contraception becoming universally available in the West.
Breaking the ranks...
The New-Old born in the 40s and 50s may be seen to have broken ranks – following
those born in the 20s who shook off Victorian and Edwardian values. They broke
free from parents and longed to ‘stay young’ and not grow old gracefully. My Dad
would never have worn a track-suit in his 60s!
The SAGAs wanted to break free from their parents’ strongly held values which they
were ‘old-fashioned’. This was the time for the affluent young who had ‘never had it
so good’ to assert themselves.
The new phenomena of experimenting with sex and drugs and rock-‘n-roll along with
the new spirituality of rock festivals challenged previously held beliefs and opinions.
The peace movement was a rejection of the wars their parents had fought: there was
a growing sense of, ‘We are the survivors and it’s going to be different now.’
People older than the SAGA generation increasingly felt that their values, thoughts
and memories were no longer seen to be important. The Church now seemed to
them be about ‘being modern’, but they yearned to hold on to their security in
traditional forms of worship. That is one reason why so many churches today are
populated by older people, as it is one place their values would be kept.
The SAGA generation are looking for spirituality and experience through their own
choices, rather than by submitting to received knowledge and dogma. It’s what works
for them, so many SAGAs have looked into cults, astrology and New Age.
Summary of the SAGA generation
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They saw how a more humanistic secular
mindset overtook the default Christian faith of
the nation and embraced modernity.
They grew old but ‘kept rocking’ – unlike the
generation before them.
Their grandchildren still buy their music, wear
their clothes and are influenced by their
values.
Perhaps many of them might come back to a
church that felt like a good rock concert.
Others are likely to be spiritual leaders open to New Age style faith, who are
looking for churches that reflect that culture.
Different groups…
To make matters more interesting, you could divide them into four general groups.
Of course this is only one way of analysing this fascinating generation and there are
many in these age ranges who would not match these profiles:
Group
Younger old
Third Age
Age
Activity
55-64
Employed
65-74
Retired
Sufficiency
Earning a
salary
In leadership
Church-life
Sense of
belonging
43%
(Peter Brierley – Christian Research)
Active frail
Inactive frail
75-84
85+
Enjoying being Confined to home
a grandparent
Travelling with Loss of spouse Increasing
SAGA
dependency
Supporting role May need help Only attend on
to get there
special occasions
34%
28%
19%
Things to note:
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The sense of belonging may diminish as age advances
Some may feel an increasing sense of being ‘useless’ or even ‘invisible’
A summary comparison of the likely cultural differences between SAGA Generation
and Senior Generation is provided below. These factors are useful to consider when
deciding how best to engage people of these generations in ministry and various
activities:
SAGA generation (born late ‘40’s/early
‘50s)
SOCIOLOGICAL
Post modern
Like to use their gifts – creative
Non institutional
Non- committal – e.g. marriage
Relative morality
Global worldview
VIEW OF TRUTH
Non churched
Spiritual
Experience counts rather than truth
PSYCHOLOGICAL
Think for themselves
What am I feeling?
Narcissistic
Choice is important
PERSONAL
Multi choices are important
Live in the present
Pop music culture
Multi-skilled
Becoming computer literate
Money and time rich
SENIOR generation (born before
Second World War)
SOCIOLOGICAL
Modern
Work and skills pre-determined
Expect institutional structures
Loyal and committed
Sense of right and wrong
Nationalistic
VIEW OF TRUTH
De churched
Religious
Meta narrative and truth important
PSYCHOLOGICAL
Told what to think
What am I doing?
Altruistic
Choice is confusing
PERSONAL
Choice confusing
Remembering the past is important
Folk songs and those from the wars
Specialised skills – a trade for life
Technology difficult to grasp
Money and time poor
Moving Forward
So how should the Church serve and be
served by the SAGA, Third Age, olderactive generation in Britain today? Many
have a considerable wealth of wisdom and
experience of living in one of the most
rapidly changing periods of history.
They have many complex needs but also a
great heritage to pass on to the
generations following them. For those who
are Christians our prayer is that they will
find the Lord’s purpose, power and peace in the active years still left for them. And
on into the future too, for even when strength diminishes and health begins to fail He
is able to use us in the Kingdom of God.