John Macnicol was born in Madras in 1947. He is Visiting Professor of Social Policy at the London School of Economics. His research focuses are the history of the idea of the “underclass”, ageing and social policy, age discrimination and retirement. He was previously Professor of Social Policy at the Royal Holloway hospital, University of London. His book, “Neoliberalising Old Age” (Cambridge University Press, 2015) has recently been published.