The employment and retirement of older men in England and Wales, 1881-1981
of older men have attracted little attention from historians.3 This is surprising given the magnitude of the recorded decline in the proportion of men aged over 65 in the labour force from almost 75 per cent in i88i to under I1 per cent in i98i. The economic impact of this development is potentially large-if males over 65 in England and Wales in i98i had shown the same participation rates as this age group did in i88i, the male population who were economically active would have been greater by i.9 million, or almost I4 per cent. This article presents the results of a preliminary investigation of this trend, based on data from the decennial censuses of England and Wales. Section I outlines a variety of modern hypotheses about the causes