As teenagers they fought for their right to grow their hair, wear what they wanted and explore the possibilities of the contraceptive pill. Now a new study that compares the lifestyle of the over-50s today with that of half a century ago has found that baby-boomers are doing battle with age with equal vigour.

Travelling, playing golf and going out with their friends, they are living the lives that 25-year-olds were in 1957, the Future Foundation think-tank concludes in its report Forever Young.

In 1957 men could look forward to just 7.6 years of retirement, and women just under 14 years. But with general health improving significantly and life expectancy soaring, men aged 60 now have 15 years and women over 22 years to fill after leaving work.

“Today 50 is closer to the middle of our life than to its end, with many economic and psychological factors bringing this change,” Martin Lloyd-Elliott, a psychologist who was consulted for the report, said. “Psychologically, there has been a shift from a ‘closing-down’ expectation for the second half of life towards a much more optimistic ‘opening-up-of-new-doors’ spirit of good times ahead.”

The most significant lifestyle difference uncovered by the study was travel. It found that the older generation was taking full advantage of cheap air fares and that the over-50s take an average of eight or nine holidays each year compared with just one or two in 1957.

The average spend on holidays has risen from £128 to £845, adjusted for inflation. The number of trips taken beyond Europe and North America by 55-64 year olds has doubled to 1.23 million over the last 10 years. Over-65s are more cautious, but they have doubled their visits to continental Europe over the same period to 4.8 million. Pensioners are now worth £3.1 billion to the travel industry, three times the amount they spent in 1995.

The report, commissioned by intune, a financial services subsidiary of Help the Aged, shows the over-50s taking personal fitness just as seriously as younger generations did 50 years ago. They take part in the same amount of sport as 25-year olds did in 1957, at an hour a week. When time spent on hobbies is added on, they spend almost three hours a week more on all leisure activities than their counterparts 50 years ago.

Britain’s consumer bug has also bitten the older generation who are energetic shoppers. They also spend twice as much time shopping as their counterparts in the 1950s. Those over retirement age actually spend more time shopping than 16-24 year-olds today, at an average of three hours 40 minutes a week compared with one hour 48 minutes.

But to accommodate all the holidaying , shopping and time on the golf course, housework has taken a hit. The over-50s spent six hours 39 minutes cleaning their home in 1957. Today’s older generation makes do with three hours and five minutes.

Brenda Dixon, 72, is embarking on another packed week of keep fit, cycling and socialising. Yesterday she had Aqua-fit and a full-body massage. Today she has a craft class. Tomorrow and Friday it is bowling and catching up with friends.

She admits Thursdays are the only day she has time to do any housework. “My life is wonderful. I don’t feel like I’m 72 at all,” she told The Times. “When I look back to when my parents were in the sixties they seemed much older. They had their own business and were both quite exhausted by the time they retired. They did not live much beyond that point to enjoy their retirement.”

She and her husband Ron, a retired engineer, keen golfer and bridge player, moved to Bourne in Lincolnshire from Weymouth when they retired and have never regretted it. The couple have just returned from a week on a canal long boat, and have visited Cracow earlier this year. They plan a trip to Paris next month before holidays to Portugal and Germany in September.

They hope to devote the summer months to catching up with their four children and four grandchildren, dotted around the country.

“We saved for this all the years we were working and are now enjoying every minute,” she said.

Then and now

Length of retirement (male) 7.6 years (1957)
15 years (2007)

Length of retirement (female) 13.9 years
22 years

Main daily activity* Cleaning & tidying
Shopping & socialising

Weekly spend** £199 per week
£455 per week

Time spent exercising/ playing sport 14 mins per week
1 hour per week

Number of holidays/ short breaks 1-2 a year
8-9 a year

Spend on holidays £128 per year
£845 per year

Place to socialise Down the pub
In the home

Alcoholic tipple of choice Beer & cider
Wines & sprits

Divorce rate 1 in 450 couples
1 in 58 couples

*excluding media consumption
**taking account of inflation

Source: The Future Foundation, for intune

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