A number of UK mortality studies have shown that the birth cohort of pensioners born around 1926 is, on average, living longer than those born earlier or later. Possible reasons include reductions in smoking, NHS and welfare reform, improvements in medical treatment and the effect of World War II on those who survived. Each of these factors may have had a greater impact on pensioners born around 1926 (the ‘golden cohort’) than those born earlier or later.