Britain is not quite the worst country in Europe for old men, but only just....

A report, at the end of last year, in the 'Daily Mail' was entitled :

No place to grow old: Britain ranks among Europe's worst countries for ageism

It was based on the 'European Social Survey' carried out across 28 countries and involving 55,000 people, it made the following points, that in Britain :

* 36% think old men and women over 70 are a 'burden on health services' and 41% thought that they 'contributed little to the economy'.

* 40% say they have been shown a lack of respect, ignored or patronised because of their age and only in Russia, Ukraine, the Czech Republic and Slovakia are the figures worse.

* more than 50% do not have a single 'friend' over the age of 70 whereas 66% of people in Portugal, Switzerland and Germany have one or more.

* 64% thought age discrimination is a 'very serious or quite serious problem' and only in France, where the figure is 68%, did more people express concern.

In addition, Britons thought old age started at 59, whereas in Greece they thought it started at around 68 and youth ends at 35 and 52 in Greece.

The most apposite response provoked by this article was from a reader in Nottingham who said :

'No place to grow old - not much of a place to be young either, or middle-aged if you're working. No place to be ill, no place to feel safe out of the house and sometimes not even in it. No place to voice your concerns (unless they're PC ones and you're on the 'right' side, no place to exercise choice over how/among whom you live, what you eat and drink, no access to justice, and in many cases no justice - what has happened to this country?'

What a good question.

LIST OF COUNTRIES IN EUROPE WITH THE PERCENTAGE OF PEOPLE WHO THOUGHT THEY HAD BEEN SHOWN A LACK OF RESEPCT BECAUSE OF THEIR AGE. FROM PORTUGAL WITH THE LEAST, TO THE CZECH REPUBLIC WITH THE MOST :

Portugal
Cyprus
Denmark
Netherlands
Croatia
Latvia
Spain
Poland
Norway
Slovenia
Switzerland
Turkey
Estonia
Sweden
Belgium
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Finland
France
Bulgaria
BRITAIN
Ukraine
Roumania
Russia
Slovakia
Czech Republic