Since the 1980s, the scale of social expenditure has come into question in most advanced industrial nations. The large shar of this expenditure devoted to the support of the aged, amidst growing numbers of old and very old people, has put age pensions at the centre of this discussion. Sheila Shaver examines this classic question in a comparative analysis of income support in six countries, drawing on data from the Luxembourg Income Study and the International Social Survey Programme. The statistical studies are embedded in a discussion of social policy and citizenship; need, poverty and social cohesion; and the structure and restructuring of welfare states.