Female waist sizes grow by 6 inches since the 1950s, Saga finds Rationing was still in place in 1952 and the average number of calories consumed each day was 1,818. This has increased 2,178 in 2012. Dr Ros Altmann, Saga's director-general, said that life today is easier and more convenient for women that it was 60 years ago. She said that improved household appliances have significantly reduced the amount of time and effort required for housework. When you think of the time that women had to spend cleaning and cooking, life is so much easier now. Although obviously that has contributed to the bigger waistlines," she said. Saga identified a raft of social changes that have happened since the Coronation. It found a marked shift in attitudes towards savings, work and income over the last 60 years. While in 1952 savings were for "a rainy day or specific events such as Christmas," they are now used for people to "keep their head above water." Expectations about financial support in later life have also changed. Sixty years ago, children were expected to subsidise the income of those over 50. However today people over 50 are increasingly supporting themselves and their children and grandchildren. Dr Altmann said: "Every time we look at it, we see that an increasing number of over 50s are helping their children and grandchildren financially." Separate research earlier this week found that a quarter of grandparents are helping to finically support their grandchildren by dipping into savings or taking out payday loans. And while people saw retirement as an opportunity to relax and put their feet up in 1952, today four in ten people want to continue to work after retirement. Technology has had a big impact people's lives. In the year of the Queen's Coronation, just 14 per cent of households had a television and the BBC was the only channel. The most popular show was I Love Lucy. Today, a third of people over 65 have Sky TV and the 50 to 64 age group watch the most TV per day. There are now over 480 channels. Back then people over 50 were still buying sheet music to play themselves on pianos. Today one in five people over 50 own an MP3 player. Saga said that over the 60-year period, life expectancy for men has grown from 77 years to 87 years . For women it has grown from 80 to 89. The research was carried out for Saga by Your Future.