Basic Concepts 3Social and Economic Outlook

for an Aging Society

(c) 2011, SAGE Publications, Inc.

The Varieties of Aging Experiences

• Stereotypes suggest that age is the great leveler—thus, elders are commonly thought to be much alikeo However, the opposite is true—we become less alike the older we

are because of life experiences• Old age is seen as a roleless role—a status with no

clearly defined purpose or rules of behavior; is this still  true as we move into the 21st century?

• Older people are often victims of ageism—stereotyping and discrimination based on age

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The Varieties of AgingExperiences (cont.)

• Social Class—a key factor influencing the experience of old age in all societieso Social class is affected by occupation, income, property, and

education • Race and Ethnicity—Whites make up roughly 80% of the

U.S. population over age 65 according to 2008 Census datao But ethnic minorities are an increasingly larger and growing

proportion  • African Americans—the largest minority group among the

aged, comprising 8.3% of Americans over age 65o They’re more likely to experience the crossover phenomenon—they

tend to experience more functional impairment but are less likely to be admitted to nursing homes

• Spanish-speaking elders compose 7% of the older population and their numbers are growing rapidly

(c) 2011, SAGE Publications, Inc.

Gender and Aging

• In all parts of the world, women make up the majority of the older populationo The typical rate is for men to die early and for women to survive

with chronic diseases

• Physical signs of aging bring more severe consequences for women than for meno Among women in minority groups, there is a pattern of cumulative

disadvantage that results in less economic security in retirement

(c) 2011, SAGE Publications, Inc.

Multiple Jeopardy and Economic Well-Being

• Double jeopardy (or multiple jeopardy)—faced by older people who are simultaneously members of two (or more) disadvantaged groups

• The poverty rate is higher for older people than for any other adult groupo Regardless of age, the poverty rate among minorities is more than

twice as high as among Whites• Given the sharp differences between men and women,

Whites and minorities, how should universal programs such as Social Security take account of such differences?o There is also controversy about how to take account of women’s

experience in family roles and how these characteristic gender differences should influence Social Security

(c) 2011, SAGE Publications, Inc.

The Economic Status of Older Americans• Economic circumstances vary sharply among

different subgroups in the United Stateso Since the early 1980s, the income of older people in the

United States has grown faster than the income of younger people

• Income—refers to available money, or its equivalent in purchasing power

• Wealth—refers to all economic assets of value, regardless of whether they produce casho Both assets and income have a much wider range than

in other age groups—meaning there are more extremes of wealth and poverty among the old

(c) 2011, SAGE Publications, Inc.

Sources of Retirement Income

• Retirement income policy in the United States is sometimes called a “three-legged stool”o (1) Social Security, (2) private pensions, and (3) individual

savings and other assetso 9 out of 10 older adults rely on Social Security for some

portion of their income, and 20% get all their income from it• Older people have not shared equally in the increase in

retirement incomeo The disadvantaged—poorly educated, minorities, and

women—haven’t had jobs that allow them to collect maximum Social Security benefits or private pensions, or accumulate wealth

(c) 2011, SAGE Publications, Inc.

Changing Financial Outlook

• Life-cycle model of savings—predicts that as baby boomers reach later life, they will begin to put more money into savings when retirement looms on the horizon

• Older people who live on fixed incomes are affected more severely by inflation than other groups

• The overall economic position of older Americans has improved substantially in the past two decadeso However, the stereotype that most older people are affluent

is mistaken There is enormous variation among subgroups of the aging with

respect to economic circumstance A large group of older people that have been brought above the

technical poverty line are still poor

(c) 2011, SAGE Publications, Inc.

Public Policy on Aging

• When today’s older adults were born—most before 1935—the U.S. government gave no special attention to issues of old ageo Since the 1970s, the federal budget has “gone gray,” and today

over 30% of the total federal budget is spent on the aged; this percentage is rising

• Until the 20th century, the aged population was small, and government’s role was very limitedo The Great Society legislation of the 1960s included steps that

federalized old-age assistance, and passed landmark laws like Medicare and Medicaid

(c) 2011, SAGE Publications, Inc.

The Aging Network

• Aging Interest Groups—during the Great Depression, older Americans banded together to advocate for their own interests while government was expanding social welfare programso The most prominent age-based movement today is

AARP (1958)o Many other groups include the National Council on

Aging, the Gerontological Society of America, the American Society on Aging, and the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare

(c) 2011, SAGE Publications, Inc.

Trends in Public Policy and Aging

• Social Security and Medicare have grown rapidly because they have been available on the basis of age alone, without means testing

• Federal programs for older people continue to enjoy broad political support

• Programs for older Americans have developed incrementally for the most part, making it more difficult to see just how much they have grown over the years

• The growth of benefit programs for the aged reflects the growth in size of the aging population

(c) 2011, SAGE Publications, Inc.