Same Situation, Far Apart: Times Are Changing Elders in the twenty-first century live decades longer than did earlier cohorts, affording them opportunities that were previously unavailable. In 1950 in Peru, average life expectancy was 45. Now in Lima, newlyweds Carmen Mercado, age 74, and Jorge de la Cruz, age 74 (left), can expect a decade of wedded bliss. While they were courting, Hazel Soares (right) was studying, culminating in her graduation from Mills College in Oakland, California, at age 94.