Context of the Research
By the time we get to 60+ we've all accumulated a lot of life experience, and can look back at what shaped our lives so far. With the average UK retirement age now at just over 63 years, most of us in the 60+ age range are retired, or thinking about it. With UK life expectancy presently at 81 years there is every reason to suppose that most of us still have a few new tricks to learn!
The options we have available at retirement are inevitably influenced by the attitudes to gender & family life, access to education and career pathways that we experienced in earlier life - and the people we "became" as a result. However, the "becoming" doesn't end at retirement.
Planning for the Beyond 60 research work began in 2012. A package containing an invitation to participate in the study was delivered to all the households in North Muskham Parish on 2nd November 2015. The data captured are profiled at Responses and Participants.
Interviews, focus groups and analysis of ELSA secondary data were undertaken.
The emergence of the COVID pandemic in 2020 prompted a second phase of data capture.