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• The over 50s now take 35% of all trips abroad and new research from the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) reveals that nearly 70% of over 50s say they are more adventurous with their trips now than ten years ago.
• Almost a fifth of those questioned have taken part in adventure activities like bungee jumping or abseiling on recent holidays, with 25% looking to swim with sharks.
• The older generation is taking full advantage of cheap air fares and the over 50s take an average of eight or nine holidays each year compared with just one or two in 1957.
• The average spend on holidays has risen from £128 to £845, adjusted for inflation. The number of trips taken beyond Europe and North America, by 55 to 64 year olds, has doubled to 1.23 million annually over the last 10 years. Over 65s are more cautious, but they have doubled their visits to continental Europe over the same period to 4.8 million.
• Pensioners are now worth £3.1 billion annually to the travel industry, three times the amount they spent in 1995.

Caught in the web

• The fact that older generations are keeping in touch with technology has not gone unnoticed. Home multimedia use, which includes TV, radio, music and internet, has increased since 1961. The 45 to 54s now spend a full day longer, per week, on home multimedia than they did in 1961.
• In 2006, of those who used the internet (56% of 45 to 64 year-olds and 20% of over 65s), the over 65s spent 2.5 hours per week online and 45 to 64 year-olds spent almost 5 hours.
• Given that the average time spent online by all age groups is only five hours and 15 minutes, the over 50s are clearly embracing this form of technology.

Shop 'til you drop

• Britain's consumer bug has also bitten the older generations, who are energetic shoppers. They spend twice as much time shopping as their counterparts did in the 1950s.
• Those over retirement age actually spend more time shopping than 16 to 24 year-olds. 16 to 24 year-olds currently shop for one hour 48 minutes per week, on average, in comparison with those over retirement age who shop for an average of three hours and 40 minutes.
• 43% of over 50s who log on to the internet regularly buy and sell on ebay.

Anyone for tennis?

• The over 50s are taking part in the same amount of sport as 16 to 44 year-olds did 50 years ago.
• There has been a fourfold increase in time spent on sport and exercise by the over 50s in the past 50 years.

Leisure lovers

• Today's over 65s currently spend almost three hours a week more engaging in hobbies and sports than their counterparts did 50 years ago.
• However, to accommodate all the holidaying, shopping and time on the golf course, housework has taken a hit. On average, the over 50s spent six hours and 39 minutes cleaning their homes in 1957. Today's older generations make do with just three hours and five minutes.
• It is clear that today's over 50s seem more inclined to spend their time socialising with friends or family, or travelling and indulging in hobbies than cleaning and tidying or doing household repairs.
• Cleaning and tidying has reduced by 31 minutes per day for the 45 to 64s and 30 minutes for the over 65s. In comparison to over 45s in 1961, those currently aged between 45 and 64 spend, on average, 189 fewer hours per year cleaning and tidying. The over 65s spend 183 fewer hours on this activity. That's almost 12 waking (or 16-hour) days less: the equivalent of a holiday abroad, or perhaps two or three short breaks.