Age Inequality

Question 1

Age uk 2021 (economic inequalities)

Answer 1

Economic inequalities
. Define living in poverty as when resources are not enough to meet their basic needs and allow the to take part in society
. 2.1 million pensioners (18%) live in poverty
. Risen since 2013-14 when 1.6 million (14%) lived in poverty
. 38%of private tenants/ 36% of social sector rented tenants
. 33% of Asian British & 30% of black British are in poverty compared to 16% of white pensioners.
. Provide incomes sufficient enough to cover basic needs and everyone would have opportunities to build up additional private incomes which would allow comfortable retirement

Question 2

Explanation of age uk (economic inequalities)

Answer 2

Marxists argue that there are economic inequality’s for pensioners because the capitalist system creates an unequal society through exploitation of the WC by ruling elite. Experience high rates of poverty because they are no longer useful to the capitalist system. Philipson argues that capitalism views the elderly as a burden on society and older people lose status as they become a drain on the economy. He suggests state pensions are insufficient and leave the elderly reliant on the welfare state ( unless they could afford state pensions ). This reinforces there low status in society as they are dependant on handouts. Ethnic minorities are likely to live in poverty because of the institutional racism they experiences in education and the workplace which stops them being able to save for retirement.

Question 3

Resolution foundation 2019 ( economic inequalities)

Answer 3

. Generational inequalities in the distribution and accumulation of wealth
. Young are not able to accumulate wealth at the same time rate as their parents and grandparents
. Those aged 61-70 are the wealthiest age groups and those in their 30s have the least amount of wealth.

Question 4

Explanation of Resolution foundation 2019 (economic inequalities)

Answer 4

This is an inequality for young people because they will have to work for much longer at an older age and will be more likely to live in poverty.
Marxist explanation of reserve army of labour. Younger people are often part of this reserve army of labour. They are more likely to work in insecure and low paying jobs which don’t allow them to accumulate wealth in the same way older generations did.

Question 5

Rowntree foundation (employment)

Answer 5

Disagrees with other reports which suggest wealth and income are the result of generational difference’s.the JRF argues that the young and old have always experienced inequalities in the labour market regardless of the generation they were born into. Young and old more likely to be in insecure employment working part time with non standard contracts and less access to training. They are also more vulnerable to unemployment than those in mid life. The market is advantage to men in mid life they are the insiders the outsiders are young/old people -secondary labour market.

Question 6

Explanation of rowntree foundation

Answer 6

Inequality because it shows ageist attitudes toward young people and old can limit their opportunities in the workplace and limit them to insecure low status low paid work.
Neo- weberian - Barron and Norris - argue this is because young People and old people and women are likely to be in the secondary labour market.

Question 7

The state of ageing

Answer 7

. 800000 people ages 50-65 are seeking work. Benefits of longer working lives = better individual finances, social connections and economic growth. 1/10 ages 50-65 report low job satisfaction. 1/3 report lack of control of autonomy and control at work. Older worker less likely to receive off the job training than younger workers impacting their ability to keep up to date with new skills.

Question 8

The state of aging explanation

Answer 8

Inequality because it shows that not only do older people find it more difficult to access employment opportunities in later life but are facing unfair treatment within their workplaces resulting in lack of autonomy and low job satisfaction. Interactionists would argue that inequalities in the workplace can be experienced by older people due to the negative labelling they experience as a group.

Question 9

Functionalism and age

Answer 9

. View aging uncritically and see aging an unavoidable
. Use consensus and social agreement to explain old people’s low status any inequality is down to their own merits
. Some functionalists say the elderly are treated with respect and consideration and this has caused them to increase in incompetence.

Question 10

Pilcher

Answer 10

Ageing is an important stage of social integration and allows people to move from one stage to another harmoniously.
Youth connects childhood( period of dependence) to adulthood ( period of independence). Age is a mechanism of social integration.

Question 11

Eisenstadt

Answer 11

Different generational groups contribute o cohesion and solidarity as they enable individuals to learn and aquire new social roles through socialisation.

Question 12

Cumming and Henry

Answer 12

. Older people gradually disengage and isolate themselves
. Pass on social and occupational roles to younger generation - functional for specialised division of labour
. They see this as natural as everyone expects to die one day and we experience decline as we approach death.

Question 13

Problem with functionalist perspective of age

Answer 13

. Overemphasis of the smoothness of transition from one group and another
. Too deterministic- not everyone experiences growing old in the same way
. Disengagement theory ignores the inequalities of age

Question 14

New right and age

Answer 14

Believe families should be self reliant and plan and prep for each life stage. Individuals should prep themselves for old age but people do not as they believe the state will provide for them in old age.
E.g. 2017 the FCA found 31% of uk adults have no private pension provision and will havto rely on the state for retirement (£185.15 per week)

Question 15

Murray

Answer 15

. Dependency culture- state has convinced people it will provide for them in old age.
. Increase in childhood poverty is due to parents not doing there job and providing for there children.

Question 16

Marxism and age

Answer 16

. Assume dominant capitalist forces are exploitative and Believe the young and old are part of the reserve army of labour
Evidence- 2025 21+ =£12.21
18-20=£10.00
-18=£7.55

Question 17

Althusser

Answer 17

Welfare payments given to the young and old is a way to maintain false class consciousness. The most vulnerable do not feel the full force of exploitation and this prevents revolutionary action. Benefits form part of the ISA

Question 18

Phillipson

Answer 18

Capitalism views the elderly as a burden on society.older people lose status and become a drain on the economy. Suggests that state pensions are inadequate and leave the elderly reliant on the welfare state. Reinforces there status as a low

Question 19

Neo- weberianism and age

Answer 19

Connection between Marxist ideas of reserve army of labour and the Weberian notion of the dual labour market where different groups find themselves in different sectors of the workforce due to structural inequalities. Younger people ind themselves getting low paid low skilled work and older people are removed from their high status high paid work.

Question 20

Weber

Answer 20

Old age is seen as negative status in Western culture old in particular have low status as they do not have high incomes and have reduced wealth and party. However older males have more status than older females.

Question 21

Interactionism and age

Answer 21

Say changes associated with old age in and of themselves have no inherent meaning. Rather attitudes towards the elderly and young people are rooted in society ( social constructions) media representations may reinforce negative stereotypes. E.g older men shown more in the media as having high status and wealth women are more likely to be associated with family and poverty.

Question 22

Lee

Answer 22

Only 15% of advertisements featured elderly people and more then 90% of representations were positive portraying them as golden agers

Question 23

Ray

Answer 23

Baby talk to infantalised language causes older people to accept the inference that they are no longer independent adults. Causing them to behave in a passive and dependant manner. Expresssion of pity particularly from medical professionals conveys the idea that older people are helpless.

Question 24

Kelly

Answer 24

Young people are often described as being dangerous in need of protection and immature in the media.
Choen- media can create modern panics around young people.

Question 25

Feminism and age

Answer 25

Aging is a gendered process and men and women experience aging differently. Women are more likely to live longer but in poor health. May be because: . Women work less in their lives so have poor savings . Women work in low status professions so have poor pensions . Women may take eon caring roles so less prepped for old age . Rights of women overlooked because of a lack of representation in the government- experienced even more so by ethnic women Evidence- poverty. 1/5 female pensioners 1.25 million living in poverty. Number living in poverty has increased by 260000 to 1.25 million. Single female pensioners are at higher risk of being in poverty than single men. Black and Asian 2x likely to be living in poverty

Question 26

Brown miller

Answer 26

West is obsessed with the aesthetics of youth. Women are particularly affected and aging is seen in a very negative way. In other words rsocieties women’s status increased as they aged but not in the west. Has also focused much of her work on physical and sexual voilence against women. 1/8 women killed by men in the last 15 yrs ages 70 or over. 262 women killed since 2009. women over 60 are 2x more likely to be liked by their son as they are a stranger.

Question 27

Wolfe

Answer 27

Older women have to try and retain their sexual attractiveness by remaining younger in order to be treated an equals to men in older age. She critiques the beauty myth arguing that societal standards of beauty create pressure on women to retain youthful appearances

Question 28

Postmodernism and age

Answer 28

Rejected the idea of the generalised view of the age categories emphasising instead the individuality of the elderly. The availability of choice in contemporary society means that people no onger become judged simply by there chronological age bur by decisions surrounding their lifestyles and there presentation of themselves

Question 29

Pilcher

Answer 29

Differences between age groups are blurring today older people behave in a manner once seen as the domain of the young. So prenups fem theories are outdating and things are improving. Fem explanations do not fully account for the diversity of experiences people can have e.g ethnicity and social class

Question 30

Featherstone and Hepworth

Answer 30

No distinction life stages anymore. Life used to go through clean stages youth, adolescence, adulthood, old age. Stages largely defined by biological or social markers such as education, work, marriage, retirement. These stages are becoming increasingly blurred and the boundaries between them are less rigid than in the past e.g extended working lives,returning to education in adulthood, waiting longer to have children.