A broad review is made of the economic, social and political developments that accompanied the 20th century demographic transition in the developed industrialized societies of Europe and North America and their implications for older people, emphasizing changes in work patterns, the position of women, family and household structures. The denigration of older people is not new, but there is greater consciousness of the disadvantaging aspects of ageist expressions. The different stages of economic development and family systems and norms in developing societies now undergoing the demographic transition in Asia and elsewhere are likely to make the lives of older people there very different from those experienced during the transition period in Europe.