There is a change in people’s preferences for pastimes. A recent survey shows that during the last twenty years, elderly people have gone through significant changes in choosing their pastimes. The survey results are presented through a graph which shows that there is a steady rise in elderly people’s tendency to watch TV. In 1990, 32% of elderly people were fond of watching TV. After 10 years the percentage increased to 41% and rose again to 49% in 2010. Again, the percentage of elderly people who enjoy playing cards have increased from 34% to 36% in 2000 in a span of ten years. It further increased to 39% in the next decade. However, there is a significant decrease in elderly people’s fondness of drawing room chats, which 17% of the them enjoyed as a pastime back in 1990. It dropped to 12% in 2000 and reduced to its half in 2010 as it came down to 6%. Upon analyzing their other pastime, it is evident that it also reduced from 17% in 1990 to 11% in 2000 and scored as low as 7% in 2010.
The survey also explains the reasons for this change. It says that television has become a part of everyday life to the elderly people. As most of them have retired, they idle away their time watching TV at home which has become more available with time and comes with variety of channels for their preferences. This has resulted in larger number of elderly people opting for watching TV as one of the most favourite pastimes. This is also the reason for their decreased interest in drawing room chats. Nowadays, they seem to be fonder of watching TV or playing cards at home.