The long shadow of childhood: associations between parental social class and own social class, educational attainment and timing of first birth; results from the ONS Longitudinal Study.

In September 2004, linked data from the 2001 Census was made available in the Office for National Statistics (ONS) Longitudinal Study (a 1 per cent sample of the population of England and Wales). The study now includes information from four censuses on sample members and the people they lived with. The availability of this new information, the length of follow-up and other features of the study (such as records of births and deaths to sample members) provide new opportunities for analysing change--both over the life course, between time periods, and between generations. This article illustrates the potential for analysis of continuity and change with new results on intergenerational social mobility, and on parental social class and age at first birth.

The mental health of early retirees-- national interview survey in Britain.

BACKGROUND: There is intense political interest in retaining older workers in the workforce, to fund lengthening retirements. While health is important in early exit from work, the health of early retirees has been little studied. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to compare the health status of economically active 50- to 64-year-olds with economically inactive former workers (termed early retirees). METHODS: A total of 1,875 respondents to the 2000 Psychiatric Morbidity Survey of Great Britain were included in the analysis. Current common mental (neurotic) disorder presence was based on the revised Clinical Interview Schedule (CIS-R). RESULTS: Results In all, 71.2% of men and 66.4% of women early retirees reported having a long-standing illness. Of early retired men, 22.2% have a common mental disorder compared to 8.2% of those still in work (p value of difference<0.001). In contrast, the respective figures for women were 18.2% and 16.9%. In fully adjusted regression models for men, early retirees were more likely to have generalised anxiety disorders (OR 3.1: 95% CI: 1.2-7.8) and depressive disorders (OR 4.3: 95% CI: 1.7-11.0). CONCLUSION: There is a substantial burden of specific mental health disorders in early retiree men. Understanding the mechanisms of this excess of mental disorders in early retiree men may be a prerequisite to increasing the numbers seeking or staying in work up to age 65.

Decline in Common Mental Disorder prevalence in men during the sixth decade of life. Evidence from the National Psychiatric Morbidity Survey.

BACKGROUND: The impact of social transitions that might improve mental health, such as retirement, has attracted limited attention. Adverse occupational conditions and involuntary exit from work are linked to high rates of common mental disorders, but voluntary retirement is associated with improved mental health. AIMS: We aimed to estimate the prevalence of common mental disorders around the conventional retirement age and to identify the associated factors that might explain differences in rates. METHODS: Data were from the Psychiatric Morbidity Survey of Great Britain (2000), covering a sample of 8,580 respondents aged 16-74 years. Current common mental (neurotic) disorder presence was based on the revised Clinical Interview Schedule. RESULTS: Prevalence rates for having any common mental disorder in men aged 65-69 years (5%; 95% CI: 2.7-7.3) were dramatically lower than in the agegroup 60-64 years (14.5%; 95 % CI: 10.6-18.5). This pattern applied to individual disorders and to the prevalence of very high symptoms counts. Prevalence rates in women peaked at age 50 and declined thereafter, but no large changes in prevalence are evident around age 60 or 65 years. In men leaving work early (aged 50-64 years), prevalence of common mental disorders remains high until the conventional retirement age. There is little change in exposure to other studied risk factors capable of explaining prevalence reduction, with the exception of decreased economic hardship in the older group. CONCLUSION: In the general population aged 50-74 years,there is a dramatic improvement in mental health in men after the conventional retirement age, but not in women. In men who leave work earlier, prevalence remains relatively high until after age 65.