Age, Sickness, and Longevity in the Late Nineteenth and the Early Twentieth Centuries: Evidence from the Hampshire Friendly Society

Abstract

We examine the relationship between age, sickness, and longevity among men who were members of the Hampshire Friendly Society (HFS) in southern England during the late nineteenth and the early twentieth centuries. The HFS insured its members against sickness, death, and old age, keeping detailed records of the claims for sick pay submitted by its members from 1868 onward. From 1892 onward these records included information about the cause of the sickness for which compensation was paid. We can therefore use this information to construct individual ''sickness biographies'' for men who joined the society during this period. This article uses these sickness histories to address two questions. The first concerns the relationship between the age of the society's members and the nature of the claims they submitted. We find that both the incidence and the duration of periods of sickness increased with age. Older men experienced longer periods of sickness both because they experienced different types of sickness and because it took them longer to recover from the same illnesses as those suffered by younger men. The second question is whether sickness in early adulthood was associated with increased mortality. We find that repeated bouts of sickness, as revealed by the number of claims made for sick pay, at ages under 50 years were associated with an increased risk of death at ages over 50 years.During the last 15 years historians of health and medicine have devoted increasing attention to the study of sickness and morbidity during the late

Institutionalising senile dementia in 19th‐century Britain

“…Old people were especially likely to end up in these institutions if they fell ill, as charitable hospitals could choose to admit only patients they were confident could be cured (Edwards , Gorsky et al . ). Workhouses kept far sparser records than asylums, and it is much harder to gain any insight into what life may have been like there – particularly for people living with dementia.…”

“…Of course, it is likely that very many people living with dementia did remain in workhousesparticularly in the workhouse infirmary wards which were set up in more populous areas to offer very basic medical care to paupers (Green 2002). Old people were especially likely to end up in these institutions if they fell ill, as charitable hospitals could choose to admit only patients they were confident could be cured (Edwards 1999, Gorsky et al 2006. Workhouses kept far sparser records than asylums, and it is much harder to gain any insight into what life may have been like thereparticularly for people living with dementia.…”

An unsuitable and degraded diet? Part three: Victorian consumption patterns and their health benefits

“…1,8 Once infant mortality is stripped out, life expectancy at age five was 75 for men and 73 for women. 9,10 The lower figure for women reflects the danger of death in childbirth or from causes that were mainly unrelated to malnutrition.…”

Trends in morbidity: national statistics on sickness claims among the working population in Sweden, 1892–1954

“…Gorsky, Harris, and Hinde, ‘Age, sickness and longevity’, pp. 593–4; Edwards, Gorsky, Harris, and Hinde, ‘Sickness, insurance and health’, pp.…”

“…See, for example, Murray, ‘Social insurance claims’; Edwards et al., ‘Sickness, insurance and health’, pp. 144–8; Gorsky et al., ‘Age, sickness and longevity’, pp. 578–86, 593–4.…”