Chapter 5 - Inequality Based on Age Flashcards
Population Trends
The senior population (aged 65+) has been increasing steadily over the past 40 years. (StatsCan 2012. Canada Year Book 2012)
From 1971to2011, the proportion of seniors in the population grew from 8% to 14%.
The proportion of seniors will rise to 25% of the population by 2050.
From 2011 to 2016, Canada registered the largest increase in the proportion of seniors since Confederation.
It was the first time that the census enumerated more seniors (5.9 million) than children 14 years of age and younger (5.8 million).
Factors: declining family size; increased life expectancy; regional differences; implications for social spending and the economy.
Constructing Age
Pre-modern thought:
Ageing was a decline but not a pathology.
integral to life, not a distinct stage within it
imbued with spiritual meaning, status
Modern thought:
• ageing as disorder, disability, passage to death
senescence = the biological aging of an organism as it lives beyond its maturity, usually accompanied by organic changes
Ageism and Age-Based Myths - Myth 1
Seniors tend to be incapacitated physically and mentally.
Reporting of good health declines with age, BUT half of those with a university degrees report very good health (Kendall, p. 93).
Dementia and disability are not an inevitable part of ageing.
Ageism and Age-Based Myths - Myth 2
Myth 2: Seniors have little to contribute to society.
BUT they often continue to work and to pay income tax; contribute to their children’s incomes; make significant shopping decisions; some are high-end consumers; often own their own homes
electoral power = about 60% of all ballots cast are by those age 65+
Ageism and Age-Based Myths - Myth 3
Myth 3: Seniors are dependent on public transfers and residential facilities.
BUT on average, Canadian workers have family disposable incomes at age 75 = 80% of their incomes at age 55 (StatsCan 1983-2004; Kendall p. 92)
95% of those 65+ live in private HHs (K, p. 95)
even for those 85+, only about 1/4 of the men and 1/3 of the women live in institutions (K, p. 95)
public/private housing options vary with income
Ageism and Age-Based Myths - Myth 4
Myth 4: Seniors’ quality of life is poor.
BUT living alone ≠ isolation. Gilmour (2012) found: At least weekly participation in: family or friendship activities church or religious activities sports or physical activities other recreational activities
At least monthly participation in: educational and cultural activities service club or fraternal organization activities neighbourhood, community or professional association activities volunteer or charity work
80% of seniors were frequent participants in at least one social activity.
(“Exclusion of online activity in this study may underestimate seniors’ social participation.”)
Ageism and Age-Based Myths - Myth 5
Myth 5: Seniors are costly to society.
More people of working age will be needed to help pay for the pensions and benefits for a growing number of elders
Elderly-dependency ratio (seniors/100 workers) = 20 in 2000 rising to 44 in 2040 (Kendall p. 102)
Q: Will their costs overwhelm the system?
A: measures have been taken to mitigate this, eg. federal and provincial claw backs to Old Age Security; RRSPs; working past 65; changes to pension programs (Kendall, p. 102-3)
Per-person spending for seniors increases with age:
Age 65–69: $6,424
Age 70–74: $8,379
Age 75–79: $11,488
Age 80 and older: $21,150
BUT:
The share of public-sector health dollars spent on Canadian seniors has not changed significantly over the past decade and a half—from 44% in 2000 to 46% in 2014.
Overall, population aging is a “modest but steady driver of increasing health care costs, estimated at 1% (approximately $2 billion) per year.”
Q: What about healthcare costs for seniors?
Seniors account for about 1/3 of all public spending on healthcare (Kendall, p. 93)
Inequalities
- Workplace Discrimination
- Retirement and Income Security
income from govt pension, private pensions, savings, family
private sources = savings, employer-sponsored private pension plans, private investments, RRSPs
public sources = Old Age Security (OAS) and CPP at age 67; Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) at age 65; QPP payments at age 60 (but increases at age 65)
These progressive programs redistribute income to Canadian seniors and prevent (most) poverty. - Elder Abuse
Typically, elders are mistreated in their own home by a spouse, sibling, child, friend, or trusted caregiver; also by staff in facilities.
Public Health Agency of Canada 2012 reported physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional or psychological abuse, neglect, abandonment, and financial or material exploitation.
StatsCan shows between 4-10% of elders suffer abuse; Cdn Assn of Retired Persons/Cdn Assn for the Fifty-Plus (CARP) “believes the real figures may be much higher than 8-10%.” (http://www.carp.ca/2016/10/14/elder-abuse-widespread-problem/)
Death and Dying
Frameworks:
Stage-based approach = denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance
Trajectories of Grief = resilience, recovery, chronic dysfunction, delayed grief
Dying Trajectory = focuses on perceived course of dying
Task-based Approach = Daily activities can still be enjoyed: physical, psychological, social, spiritual tasks
Solutions to Problems of Aging
Micro-level: personal efforts to adapt
“A longitudinal study of men and women between 70-79 found that regular physical activity, higher numbers of ongoing positive social relationships, and a sense of self-efficacy enhanced physical and cognitive functioning” (Seeman & Adler 1998 cited in Mooney)
Mid-range level: CARP has 400,000 members
activism, eg. The Raging Grannies
Macro-level: government legislation and policy, eg. pension funds; long-range financial planning; investment in home care and community care; residential facilities; gender equity policies
Functionalism
Disengagement Theory = Seniors’ departure from the workforce is natural and functional
Due to senescence
Turnover permits jobs to open up to younger workers
Criticism = Disengagement may be dysfunctional for society, especially if government pension funds are strained; many seniors want to work
Conflict Theory
Seniors do not choose to leave the workforce, but are pushed out because of ageism.
Work is meaningful, rewarding, remunerative, and it provides a positive identity.
Working seniors alleviate public expenditures and minimizes demands for entitlements like pensions, housing, healthcare.
Criticism = Capitalism has contributed to longevity and quality of life for seniors.
Interactionism
socially constructed definitions of age affect one’s experience of growing old
people take on new roles as they age, and they reject the definition of old age as inadequate, incapable, unhealthy
Activity Theory = Older people who are active are happier and better adjusted.
Criticism = Older people may not wish or be able to maintain active lifestyles.
Feminism
Women are more likely than men to suffer the hardships associated with ageing
Women are more vulnerable to loss of income from the cumulative effects of underpaid and unpaid work
Women often do caregiving work; they generally provide care in ageing while men receive it
Social Gerontology
The study of the social (non physical) aspects of aging.
Characteristics of Later Maturity
Many people find themselves caring for people their own age
Considered to begin in 60s although people continue to work into the 70s, most people have left the work force by 70.
Chances of heart attack stroke and cancer increase
Alzheimer’s Disease
A degenerative disease that attacks the brain and severely impairs memory and thinking and behaviour (747,000 people suffer)
Centenarians (those 100+ years old has grown) is an indication 5825 in 2011 to 63700 in 2056
In 2011 those over 65 were 5,186,800, up 11% from 1992.
Problems Linked to being Elderly: Ageism
50% of Canadians ageism is the most tolerated social injustice
Prejudice and discrimination against people on the basis of age.
Robert Butler (1969) coined the term to describe how myths and misconceptions about older people produce age based discrimination. It is a form of stereotyping.
6 in 10 seniors say that they have been treated unfairly
1/3 of Canadians admit to have treated an older person unfairly
Social problem: Ageism
7 in 10 of Canadian society values younger people more
1 in 5 say Older people are a burden to society
1 in three quarters of Canadians agree that seniors 75 years ad older are seen as less important and are more often ignored than younger generations.
Workplace Discrimination: Elderly People
Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms free from discrimination based on many characteristics including age, but many subtle forms of discrimination remain.
Downgraded job descriptions, failed to promote them or grant them raises, or are trying to push them out of jobs so that cheaper workers can be hired.
Older Employees
Total workers both male and female 55+ years has increase since 197 form 12% to almost 18%
Retirement: Income Security and Leaisure Activities
Retirement Principle: the idea that at a fixed age regardless of mental of physical ability a person leaves work
It simply implies that everyone experienced a decline in physical and mental ability at a specific age.
Severe decline in pensions and investments that occurred in 2008 may have resulted in more people continuing to work.
Advantages to continuing to Work:
Incomes at 70 were 80% of their working wages.
Reduction in early dementia
French governments research agency showed that those that retired early had a lower risk of dementia.
Orientation: most people are prepared with good health, friends and financial resources
Fewer people are far from being dependent in retirement
Wealthy Canadian Workers Experienced a A greater decline in finances than low income Workers
The richest workers, top 20% income distribution at 55, received about 70% of income
Those in the lowest 20% saw no decline in their income because of various income transfers.
A new retirement financial concern has been raised:
The percentage of the RRIF which must the RRSP must be converted to that must be withdrawn at age 71 and that % increases until 90 when 20% of the fund must be withdrawn.
Given how long people are living this leaves very little left in ones final years.
Poverty and Seniors and subgroups of seniors experiencing problems are concerns:
The rate of government increases in pay outs has not been as high since the mid-1990s as it was before that time
Seniors living alone are the ones doing the least well, especially women
15% of those icing alone fell below the LICO and slightly more women were in this position than men.
Myths regarding elderly
Being at a loss of what to do with one’s time
They actually participate in many hours of active and passive leisure time on a daily basis.
Cognitive leisure, social leisure and physical leisure are combined to form passive leisure
Passive leisure and active leisure both increase for men and women at 65
Health, Illness, and Health Care
Studies show that people are not developing the disabling diseases that were common in the past, and the vast majority function quite well
Attributed to better education, nutrition, and public health
This positive outlook is not true for Indigenous people
Old age: indigenous people
Those reporting a higher level of health is slightly higher for those with education higher than high school
Further intensified by the feminization of aging.
Because women are greater like hood of being poor and having no spouse to care for them
Predicting skyrocketing costs is highly overstated.
Changing Costs of Health Care: Aging
Rambo and Berlin - show that only 14% of the change in the health care costs was due to aging. 1976-2009
Older victimization
Senior victims of violence were more likely to be victimized by an adult child or a current or former spouse.
Among men and women the rate of family violence was lower than for other ages
The rate of family violence among senior women was close to 10 times lower than the rate of women aged 25 to 34
Elderly Victimization
Complications resulting for physical violence
Many analysts suggest that there is greater violence in families but less reported because they are dependent on them
Safe havens have now been created for seniors - study 10% reported it
Other abuses are: emotional (15) financial (5), sexual 92)and neglect(1).
Older people can become victims of financial scams
Family Problems and Social Isolation
(SROs) in Vancouver and Toronto being replaced by high rises building and retail space
An increasing number of older people are becoming homeless
Younger people stop asking for advice, feel unduly burdened
5 million seniors lived in private households (56.4 in couples)
Intimacy at a distance - families usually provide support for their older members
Class- more money =wider array of activities
Others become homeless displaced from low income housing
Housing Patterns and Long Term Care Facilities
Because of the high cost of utilities, insurance, taxes, and repair maintenance older women are more likely. To live alone and be disadvantaged
Toronto - 2009-2013-4.7% to 10 %
Older people with upper and middle incomes are more likely to live in facilities
Multilevel Retirement residences or facilities
In recent years there has been a rise in religious organizations and for profit organizations that provide a range of services from independent living to skilled nursing care
It is important to distinguish between elderly residences and long term care facilities
Costs of long term care
Western Industrialized Nations and Japan. Canada spends 1.23% of GDP on long term care and Sweden contributes a higher percentage to GDP on elderly and long term care because it is more collective oriented.
Home are is seen as a way to reduce health care costs - $2791/month
Death and Dying
50% of deaths are due to heart disease
Researchers found that people don’t fear death as much as they do the fear of pain and suffering
4 frameworks for explaining how people cope with process of dying:
The stage based approach, the trajectories of grief,the dying trajectory, the task based approach
Stage based Approach
1) Denial 2)Anger (why me?)3)bargaining and asking for divine intervention (yes, me, but…)4)depression and sense of loss 5) acceptance
Trajectories of Greif
Resilience - the ability to maintain a. Relatively stable, healthy level of psychological and physical functioning
2 recovery - gradual return to previous levels of functioning
Chronic dysfunction - inability to function after experience greif
4 Delayed Grief - appearing to have normal adjustment followed by an increase in distress
Coping Ugly
Coined by Bonnano
Inappropriate behaviour like telling jokes that may help the person move on from loss
Dying Trajectory
Focuses on the perceived course of dying and the expected time of death
In this Perspective not all people move toward death at the same speed or in the same way.
Acute phase: anxious, Chronic:anxiety declines, terminal:withdraws from others
Task based Approach: suggests that daily activities can still be enjoyed during the dying process and that fulfilling certain tasks makes the process of death easier, not just on the dying person, but on everyone involved
Physical tasks: performed to satisfy bodily needs
Psychological Tasks: maximize security, autonomy, and richness of experience
Spiritual Tasks: performed to identify, develop or reaffirm sources of spiritual energy and to foster hope
Important are the rights of the dying person and the way that care is give
Hospices
Organizations that provide a homelike facility or home based care for persons who are terminally ill
Functionalist Perspective: Aging
Dramatic changes in institutions as the family and economy have influenced how. People look at the process of growing old
Stability of society focuses much less on people preparing for occupational roles than leaving them at an arbitrary time
65 likely no longer able to keep up with the demands
Functionalist Perspective: Disengagement Theory
Suggest that people want to be released from societal expectations of productivity and competitiveness
Retirement policies then are a means of ensuring that younger people with more up tot date training move into occupational roles while ensuring older generations are recognized for their years of service
Functionalist Perspective: Disengagement Theory Critisms
Fewer workers means strain on CPP, people should be allowed to work beyond 65
Interactionist Perspective: Interactionist Activity Theory
Assumption that people who are active are happier and better adjusted than less active people.
By denying the existence of old age and maintaining middle age lifestyles for as long as possible.
Interactionist Perspective: Interactionist Activity Theory Critism
Katz (2000) suggests that this emphasis on activity could be transformed into a means of controlling older people.
Conflict Perspective:
In a capitalist system older people are set a part as a group that depends on special policies and programs
focus on the political economy of aging
Class constitutes a structural barrier to older people’s access to valued resources and dominant groups attempt to maintain their own interests by perpetuation class inequalities
Problem rooted in societal conditions- income and housing
People who are poor in their younger year are more so in older
Critisms of Conflict Perspective
Approach ignores the fact that industrialization and capitalism have been positive forces in society, greatly enhancing the longevity and quality of life for many older people.
Feminist Perspective
emphasize inequalities between men and women
Women have higher rates of disability and lower incomes
11.5% of unattached men had low incomes, compared to 15% of women
Solutions to Age Based Inequality
Employment, family responsibilities must become less compartmentalized - technology helps make this happen
People who have had no opportunity to engage in leisure activities earlier in life are not likely to engage in them later.
Life expectancy - technology has assisted in early diagnosis
Computers make it easier for people to stay at home for shopping
solutions to Aged Based Inequality (2)
a technology also brings education and recreation into the home
Economic corners loom as boomers retire bringing a dramatic shift in elder dependency ratio- the number of workers necessary to support those over age 64
Productive Aging: solution to Age Based Inequality
Instead of pitting young against the old we should change our national policies and attitudes
Encourage older people to create their own roles in society not to disengage from it.
Solutions to Age Based Inequality: Functionalist
Changes must occur in families and other social institutions if wer are to resolve problems brought about by family diversification and increased workplace demands.
Sandwich Generation
Mostly women
3 in 10 people aged 35-44 years with unmarried children under 25 years income were also carrying for a senior
2.2 million people
Devote more house tan men do in caring for seniors
Report feeling stressed, more support would help them.
Solutions to Age Based Inequality: Conflict Perspective
Rooted in power differentials
Younger people have been told to start saving money for retirement, however they have education loans to repay
Structure of the political and economic power in society
CARP advocacy group about policies that would benefit many older people (eg. Scams and fraud)
Solutions to Age Based Inequality/: Interactionist Perspective
Elizabeth Carson - people who maintain strong relationships with others remain actively involved throughout their lifetime, have reason to be optimistic about life when they reach old age.
