Download Age and Society

Age and Society
© 2009 The McGraw Hill
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Aging and Society
• Age stratification varies from culture to
culture
– “Being old” is master status that
commonly overshadows all others in U.S.
– All who live long enough will eventually
assume ascribed status of older person
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World’s “Oldest” Countries
Versus the United States, 2006
Source: Bureau of the Census 2005d (projected).
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Perspectives on Aging
• Increase in life expectancy has led to
referring to people in their 60s as the
“young old”
– Those in their 80s and beyond are the “old
old”
• Gerontology: study of the sociological
and psychological aspects of aging
and problems of the aged
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Perspectives on Aging
• Disengagement theory: society and
aging individuals mutually sever many
of their relationships
– Highlights significance of social order
• Activity theory: elderly persons who
remain active and socially involved
are best adjusted
– Withdrawal viewed as harmful to both the
elderly and society
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Perspectives on Aging
• Ageism and Discrimination
– Ageism: prejudice and discrimination
based on age
– Critics argue that neither disengagement
nor activity theory considers impact of
social structure and social class on
patterns of aging
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Aging in the United States
• The Graying of America
– In 1900, 4.1 percent of the U.S. population
was age 65 or older; by 2010 it will be 13
percent
– Highest proportions of older people are in
Florida, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Iowa,
West Virginia, and Arkansas
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Actual and Projected Growth of the
Elderly Population in the United States
Source: Bureau of the Census
2004a: 113; He et al. 2005: 9.
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Twenty-Eight Floridas by 2030
Source: Bureau of the Census 2005c.
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Aging in the United States
• Wealth and Income
– Typical older person has standard of living
higher than in the nation’s past; class
differences remain
• Competition in the Labor Force
– In 2007, 34 percent of men and 26 percent
of women aged 65 to 69 were in paid labor
force
– Older workers face discrimination in the
labor force
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Rising Labor Force Participation
Rates Among the Elderly
Source: Gendell 2008: 47.
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Death and Dying
• Death has been a taboo topic in U.S.
• Kübler-Ross identified five stages of
dying
• Kalish laid out issues people must face to
have “good
death”
• Hospice
care:
has goal of helping people
die comfortably without pain
• Recent studies in U.S. suggest people
are breaking through historic taboos
about death
© 2009 The McGraw Hill
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