For the first time in history, the world's population is ageing. For rich countries in the west, economies rely on youthful populations to provide for those who have retired. We face a profound economic and social crisis - how do we care for the elderly when pensions and social security systems are under threat, housing is short and fewer young people are entering the workplace?

Yet this is only half the story. Populations in the poorer countries of the South are also ageing. Life-expectancy has increased due the availability of lifesaving medicine. Child mortality has decreased, so people are having smaller families. India will soon have one of the largest populations of over-sixties. The one-child policy in China will similarly lead to a severe imbalance in the age-profile of the people.

In A World Grown Old, Jeremy Seabrook examines the real implications of the ageing phenomenon and challenges our preconceptions about how it should be tackled. Arguing that the accumulated skills of the elderly should be employed to enrich society, rather than being perceived as a 'burden', he calls for a radical rethinking of our attitude to population issues, migration, social structures and employment policy.

For much of the developed world, health care for a surging elderly population looms as one of the most daunting problems of the coming decade. In this book, contributors from diverse disciplinary backgrounds and countries discuss resource allocation for the elderly and debate plans for the years ahead. Essays focus on five general issues: the meaning of old age, the goals of medicine and health care for the elderly, the balance between the needs of the young and old, the pressures of other social priorities, and the role of families, especially the burden on women, in long-term care.

In consideration of the difficult moral and practical issues involved, the editors conclude the volume with a special report containing policy recommendations from representatives of eight countries (the United States, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands, Sweden, and the United Kingdom). This important volume will be of interest to policymakers and a broad spectrum of health care professionals, as well as to anyone interested in the fate of the elderly or in coming health care challenges.