The Rev Charles Chadwick 
Parish development adviser at the Dorchester Archdeaconry

If you were to be asked what has been the most dramatic change in society since the reign of Queen Victoria, I wonder what would you suggest?

Radical changes in how we work, how we communicate, how we travel, how we shop, and how we are entertained might all come to mind.

Yet one of the most dramatic changes in our society over the past 100 years or so is one that has not generally been much reported.

It is one which has been increasing slowly yet seemingly inexorably decade by decade.

I am referring to life expectancy in this country.

Historians and statisticians reckon that in 1900 in Britain average life expectancy in the United Kingdom was about 47 for a man and about 50 for a woman.

Improved health, housing, living standards all contributed to average life expectancy for both sexes reaching over 60 by the 1930s, and over 70 by the 1970s.

Not long ago, the Office of National Statistics stated that average life expectancy for newborn girls in the UK is on course to reach just under 97 years and four months within just over two decades.

Boys born in 2037 will expect to live until 94 years and four months on average, with many living much longer.

This raises the question of how we perceive and treat this growing army of older people.

Do we view them as a blight and a drain on resources?

Or as a reservoir of experience and expertise that we would do well to draw on?

And how will we make adequate provision for the needs of the old – those over 75; and the very old – those over 85?

This looks like it will be particularly difficult, as healthy life expectancy is currently not increasing as quickly as life expectancy itself.

I sense that we need to remind ourselves what is the very essence of human beings.

We are bodies, minds and spirits and of ultimate value just for being who we uniquely are, no matter what age or stage we are at.

To cope with an ageing society, I think we must hold on to this essential truth and remember that everyone of all ages is of equal worth.