Our study examines birth-cohort trends in functional difficulties
(FDs) among older people in the UK, assessed from self-reported
difficulties in eight domains of FD, using a repeated large-scale
population survey over a 10 year period. By exploiting the range
of SES indicators in the data (measures of educational attainment,
income components, and home-ownership), we can quantify the
relative strength of the association of each with functional
disability and investigate whether the overall trends observed
among women and men born between 1924 and 1945 have favoured
more advantaged socioeconomic groups. We aim to assess
whether there are cohort trends differing by SES, which would have
implication for future social care costs