In this book, Robert Rochefort, director of the Centre des Recherches, d’Études et de Documentation sur la Consommation, continues his analysis of basic trends in developed countries. This book follows an earlier study in which he accurately predicted the emergence of new consumer trends. In the present work, he examines the long-term effects on society of rising life expectancy and an ageing population.
He addresses the social consequences of the following: the fact that the purchasing power of seniors is as high as that of consumers who are still in the work force, how the relative wealth of seniors has been affected by the rise in the Stock Market, the rising cost of medical care for the over-60s, seniors’ sexuality, the development of volunteer organisations, problems related to pensions, as well as loneliness, illness and death.
Without denying the metaphysical anxiety brought on by old age, Robert Rochefort makes a plea for a more stable multi-generational society, in which all age groups will be better integrated.

Robert Rochefort is the director of CREDOC (a research centre specialising in consumer studies). He is the author of La Société des Consommateurs and Le Consommateur-Entrepreneur.