This book offers a detailed study of well-being of older people in Great Britain, using longitudinal data from the British Household Panel Study (1991–2000), and is a very useful tool for scholars interested in the conceptual and methodological issues arising from the study of well-being in old age. In addition, the study includes a comparative element in contrasting well-being among older people in Great Britain and in the Netherlands, using Dutch Socio-Economic Panel data from 1991–7. The main strength of the book is the clarity with which it is written, making it an excellent guide to the conceptual and empirical dilemmas facing researchers in this substantive area, as well as ways to resolve them.

The book is divided into three parts. Part I sets the context of the research, including the definition of key terms, the conceptualisation and measurement of well-being of older people, a chapter on methodology and finally a helpful overview of the British pension and social benefits system. Zaidi discusses in detail the challenge of conceptualising economic ‘well-being’, referring in turn to the Life-Cycle Hypothesis and consumption as a measure, the concepts of a minimum income and of a standard of living, as well as Amartya Sen's capability approach. The book's conceptual approach is complemented by the addition of health as a dimension of well-being, distinguishing between physical and mental health measures used in the SF-36 Questionnaire. Chapter 4, which describes the British pension and social benefit system, draws useful conclusions about the entitlement of older people in receipt of a pension income between 1991 and 2000.

Part II, parts of which are co-authored with colleagues, presents the empirical findings of the research by focusing on income deprivation and limiting health in old age, income mobility in old age and finally a comparative chapter on income mobility of the elderly population in the British and the Dutch contexts. Some of the results of the research are surprising, other less so. For example, using physical functioning indicators, women appear to do worse than men across all age groups; however, men over 85 are more likely than women to expect their health to deteriorate. The groups in the older population that are identified in the research as more likely to face a poverty risk perhaps do not come as a surprise, certainly as far as the British context is concerned. Older women, widows and widowers, those living alone, those who have retired from the labour market, those who live in rented accommodation and the oldest old (defined as those aged 80 and over) are the most risky groups. In addition, the economic deprivation experienced by certain high-risk groups, namely the oldest old, widows/widowers and tenants, is further exacerbated by the prevalence of disability and the financial costs associated with it. The findings of the research with regard to income mobility in old age are probably the most fascinating part of the book, using a typology of mobility (flat, rising, falling, blip and zigzag movements) first developed by Hills (Reference Hills1999), and Gardiner and Hills (Reference Gardiner and Hills1999) and further developed by Zaidi et al. (Reference Zaidi, Rake and Falkingham2001) and Sefton and Rigg (Reference Sefton and Rigg2004). However, these findings paint a less than promising picture: the older population in Great Britain is disproportionately represented in the lowest income quintiles, downward mobility overall exceeds upward mobility and there is less mobility in the bottom quintile compared to upper quintiles. An interesting result of the research, that has implications in the current economic climate, is that a more than average reliance on state benefits in old age is associated with a low probability of experiencing downward income mobility, while a more than average reliance on investment or labour income is associated with a high probability of experiencing downward income mobility. Even more interesting perhaps, a reliance on investment income in the Netherlands is associated to a lesser extent with downward income mobility than in Great Britain, while employment attributes appear to be less influential on mobility in the Dutch context.

Part III is the conclusion of the book, bringing together the conceptual framework, methodological justifications and future research directions in the area of older people's well-being. Given the wealth of the results presented in the rest of the book and their implications for the well-being of older people in Great Britain, the concluding discussion is perhaps too short. Nevertheless, Zaidi manages to convey the central message of the book with a lucidity that characterises the book as a whole. He writes that ‘contrary to conventional wisdom, old age is not a static phase of life for a large majority’ (p. 304) and that ‘while individuals and governments already safeguard against [income risks in old age], our empirical research shows that these measures may need to be strengthened in light of the increasingly longer time spent in the old age phase of life and in view of greater reliance by older people on potentially volatile sources of income’ (p. 305).