Growing up and Growing Old

Midlife is a transitional period which is witness to shifts in generational positioning; that is the loss and increasing agedness of the generation above and changes in the lives of the generation below. Life events such as the death of parents and other older relatives, as well as children reaching adulthood and leaving the family home commonly characterise this shift and can have implications for the way in which people in midlife feel about their own ageing process. This chapter is based on a series of psycho-social interviews conducted with 22 men and women aged between 39 and 58 years old. It explores the psychological effect the movement of the generations has on those in midlife - how people feel about becoming the next older generation and the implications this has for their own sense of ageing. It pays particular attention to how people in midlife negotiate relationships with their parents and how they manage the emotional and practical changes which occur with their parents aging and deaths.