age 20 markers

Question 1

economic

Answer 1

• Economically young people are likely to earn less and have less wealth stored than other sections of the population.
• Older people may also suffer from low levels of income as they retire. In fact 33% of single pensioners live below the poverty line and 19% of those living in poverty are pensioners.
• Those who have low paid jobs during their working life are also more likely to suffer financial disadvantage in later years. Some people have accumulated large wealth so there is a difference between those retiring to stage pensions and those who retire with large shores of wealth.

Question 2

Work

Answer 2

• European legislation passed in 2006 made age discrimination illegal, however a MORI survey found 1 in 5 workers questioned reported having been discriminated against on the grounds of age.
• People nearing retirement report being sideline and put out to pasture. Young people reported being patronised and overlooked due to assumptions about their skills and experience.
• Middle aged women also report discrimination based on the assumption that they are of ‘child bearing age’ which may lead employers to assume that they will be taking maternity leave or prioritising child care.

Question 3

Media

Answer 3

• Stereotypes of elderly women see them as ‘little old ladies’ - harmless perhaps, but also powerless and passive like an infant.
• In the media children and the elderly are often portrayed as having an affinity with one another because they are both dependent, in the process old age is infantilised. The elderly are made to seem child-like and as a result they lose the status of being adults who have full personhood.
• Cohen - folk devils and moral panics. Youth groups may face inequality in the way the media treat them, which in turn may lead to heavy handed policing and social marginalisation as others come to fear these groups.