The author says that shorter life expectancies in the past means that there weren't many great-grandparents back in the day.
I don't think that's the case: the shorter average life expectancy is due to infant and youth mortality. As long as you didn't die from what would nowadays be a preventable disease, people still got old: that's where the term "three score years and ten" comes from.
So I think there were probably many 70yo great grandparents.
I don't think that's the case: the shorter average life expectancy is due to infant and youth mortality. As long as you didn't die from what would nowadays be a preventable disease, people still got old: that's where the term "three score years and ten" comes from.
So I think there were probably many 70yo great grandparents.