Chapter 1 Vocabulary Flashcards
age structural transition
Synonym for “population aging”
age structure
The portion of people in various age groups of the population
age-crime curve
Depicts crime rates among people in their late teens and early twenties followed by gradual declines in criminal behavior with age
agency
The capacity to act
baby bonus
Funds intended to offset the cost of childcare and other expenses that could dissuade people from having children
Baby Boomer
The generation that came as the result of the surge of infants born between the years of 1946 to 1964
conflict theory perspective
Asks “who benefits?” from current social conditions, group dynamics, and ideologies
critical gerontology
Asks in whose interest knowledge about aging is created, reproduced, shared, and applied
demographic transition
The shift from high birth rates and high death rates to low birth rates and low death rates
dependency ratio
Measures the number of people ages 0-14 and age 64 and above
filial piety
The virtue of giving respect and obedience to one’s parents and older family members
filial responsibility laws
In China, laws legally compelling adult children to provide support for their parents
functionalist perspective
A perspective that views society as a system of interdependent parts
Generation Z
The generation born roughly from 1997 to 2013
life expectancy
Average length of life
macro-level
Large-scale conditions in which biographies are lived
micro-level
Local settings of individual biographies
middle-old
Ages 74 to 84
Millennial
Cohort defined by the Pew Research Center as those born between 1981 and 1996
old-age dependency ratio
The number of people aged 65 and older for every 100 people ages 15 to 64 (or sometimes ages 20 to 64)
oldest old
Ages 85 and above
population aging
The process whereby the portion of “older people” (usually age 65 and above) in a population grows in comparison to other age groups
pronatalist
Birth-promoting
social structures
E.g., cultures, social institutions, social hierarchies, demographic characteristics
