This paper examined the social function of the elderly in various countries including Nigeria, Thailand, Ireland, Russia, Israel, Japan and the U.S.A. It was determined that the status enjoyed by the elderly of these cultures may have been related to the degree of dependency the younger population expressed toward the elderly. The dependency itself appeared to be the result of how much control, direct or otherwise, the elderly had within their own culture. Variables such as cultural emphasis on productivity, and economic, social, and religious independence of the young from the elderly were believed to be some of the major factors involved in the reduction of the status of the elderly, which is explained as not resulting merely from modernization itself. (Author)