chapter 4 Flashcards
age in canada
- approximately 18% of Canadians are elderly (65 or over*) (2020)
- seniors (60 or 65 and older*) are the fastest growing age group in Canada; the number of seniors in 2040 will account for 25% of the population
- highest elderly populations in canada: BC, Quebec & Maritimes
- canada’s average age is 40
canadas aging popualtion
- average age is increasing as people are living longer
- average Canadian lives the to age of 82-82
- females tend to always outline males with male Canadians living to 80 and female canadians 84
contributions to the increase of life expectancy + females outliving males
- social cohesion
- hormones
- stress levels
- women attempt suicide more, men succeed more
- men partake in risky behaviours
- evolutionary theory
social cohesion contributing to longer life expectancy
- women have more of it then men; close relationships with others which contributes to a longer life expectancy
- competition between men depletes the possibility to form connections
hormones contributing to longer life expectancy
- estrogen protects women from heart disease; it is heart protective
- higher rates of testosterone and how it interacts with cortisol is hard on heart health and other elements of men’s health like increasing depression
stress levels contributing to longer life expectancy
- men have higher stress levels when taking on the breadwinner role
- being depended on to support their family and being in a potentially competitive work environment, is stressful
evolutionary theory contributing to longer life expectancy
- men can have many children with many women but women are more valuable
- you only need one man to populate the earth but you need many women
why is canada “greying”
- the birth rate is decreasing; the current fertility rates are below replacement
- replacement rate is 2.1 and currently sit at 1.26
- ageing baby boomers; lots of elderly
- improved healthcare, awareness and education has increased life expectancy
stratification
the arrangement or classification of something into different groups
social stratification
- a system involving the categorization of people in a hierarchy (‘strata’) based on one or more social dimensions
- e.g.rankings based on race, socioeconomic status, gender, etc
age stratification
- the unequal distribution of wealth, power, and privilege among people at different stages of the life course
- elderly canadians were typically lower in the hierarchy and young people higher
hunter/gatherer societies views on elderly
elderly seen as an economic burden
pastoral, horticultural and agrarian societies views on elderly
in these farming societies the most privileged are typically older
gerontocracy
- a form of social organization in which older people have the most wealth, power, and prestige
- elderly people would have been valuable because of their knowledge
industrial and post-industrial societies views on elderly
give little power and prestige to elderly and see them as a burden on society
challenges faced by elderly canadians
- finding meaning
- social isolation
- health issues
- income loss/poverty
- ageism
senescence
- the natural declining physical and mental abilities with the aging process, changes the quality of life for seniors
- loss of physical and emotional control can cause distress
- loss of independence
does age = poor health?
- elderly Canadians today have lower rate of heart disease, hypertension and arthritis than previous generations
- 3/4 of Canadian seniors over the age of 85 report being in good to excellent health physically, cognitively and mentally
- this is likely due to rapidness of healthcare response, improved preventions and treatment and improved levels of education
age and inequalities in life
- higher social inequality over the life course is associated with greater likelihood of disability during the senior years
- people who have lived with higher inequality experience lower quality of life, for example, First Nations and Inuit Canadians experience lower life expectancies
- despite experiences of sexism, women tend to be much more resilient (i.e., live longer) than men to the effects of social inequalities experienced over the life course
top diseases affecting the elderly
- hypertension
- periodontal disease
- osteoarthritis
poverty among families later in life
- 1960s: ~40% of Canadians >65 years were low-income
- 2016: ~4% of Canadians >65 years were living in poverty
- lots of diversity among older Canadians in terms of economic statuses; still working b/c they can’t afford to retire or don’t want too vs. reliant on government transfers & retired
- more elderly women live in poverty then men
assistance programs for elderly canadians
- CPP
- old age security pension
- guaranteed income supplement
cpp for seniors
receive a maximum of $1306/month depending on your contribution
old age security pension
- receive up to $691-760/month
- dependent upon age/income
- if you make under $130,000/yr
guaranteed income supplement
- $1026 if you are single and your income less than $21,000/yr
- potentially receiving only a small CPP and are dependent on security pension so the income supplement is necessary to stay out of poverty
ageism
- prejudice or discrimination against any member of society based on their age
- 63% of seniors say they have been treated unfairly or differently because of their age
- many report discrimination within the healthcare system such as their concerns are dismissed as ‘normal part of aging’
- 89% of Canadians associate aging with something negative like loss of health and independence
- 21% of canadians say older canadians are a burden on society
3 most common forms of age discrimination reported by canadian seniors
- being ignored/ treated as though they are invisible
- being treated like they have nothing to contribute
- the assumption that they are incompetent
ageism is supported by…
- biomedical approach; the body doesn’t work as well as it used too
- connection to death; reminds us and drives our fear of our own mortality
- cultural values and dominant discourses
Indigenous canadians and ageing
- they are respected and cared for by their communities in a much different way than non-indigenous families
- they are believed to have lots of wisdom and valuable knowledge
theories of sociology and ageing
- structural functionalist approaches
- critical theorization
- symbolic interactionism approaches
- feminist approaches
structural functionalism and ageing
- structural functionalist view people retiring as a good thing
- propose the disengagement theory which is when elderly voluntarily remove themselves from activities and social contacts, to ease their passage into less active lifestyles owing to physical/mental/cognitive decline
- retirement serves several functions, especially the reinvigoration of social institutions and contribution to a stable society
structural functionalism and ageing - 3 benefits of retirement
- empties job positions allowing younger people to move up the occupational and social hierarchy
- gives the retirees a celebration to honour their contribution
- ensures outdates skills and ideas are replaced by more useful, modern ones
conflict theory and ageing
- conflict theorists argue that capitalist societies value only those who are productive
- elderly are a burden because in a capitalist society you need to work and contribute economically and of the elderly are not working they are not contributing
- elderly people do not disengage; they are pushed out of the workforce
critical theorization - the political economy perspective on ageing
- argue that the status of the aged declined owing to rise of modernization & individualism; industrialization erodes older people’s powers (production)
- independence in old-age valued; ability to maintain independence heavily dependent upon welfare state policies (distribution)
skill obsolescence
the degree to which professionals lack the up-to-date knowledge or skills necessary to preserve effective performance in their current or future work roles
symbolic interactionism and ageing
- look at how socially constructed definitions of age and aging affect people’s experience and expectation of growing old
- age is shaped by the labels society applies
- satisfaction with aging requires rejecting the definition of old age as inadequate or outdated
- media portrayals reflect and reinforce societies stereotypes about older people
media and attitudes to ageing
we learn our negative attitudes towards aging, and older people, from the mass media, jokes, and cartoons
media and covid
- over 80% of the COVID-19 related deaths during the first wave occurring in long-term care homes, and media concentrated heavily on this population
- many media reports contributed to ageism during pandemic; stereotypes emphasizing loss, victimization, and needing protection
- future goal would be to strike a balance between stereotypes and realities
feminist theory and ageing
- aging affects men and women differently
- for women, aging is associated with a culturally defined loss of youth, attractiveness and glamour which is a less critical concern for men
- the family caregiving roles younger women take often remove them from the labour force which limits their lifetime earnings and may result in poverty after retirement
