Demography- Ageing population Flashcards
The economic costs of an ageing population
pensions ‘pay as you go’
- NI contributions, current workforce pay for pensions of current elderly people
- pension age is rising to 67 from 2026
Why is the NHS in high demand?
Funded from tax payers, rapidly expanding elderly population
How do the government currently fund social care, pensions, NHS?
They pay national insurance tax which comes out of the current workers wages to fund the current elderly population
Why are there issues with the current dependency ratio?
There are too many elderly people relying on pensions and there aren’t enough working people to pay tis tax as it doesn’t make up for the demand
What are the solutions to the dependency ratio?
Allow private pensions/savings within being employed
- make the age to access a pensions much higher
What are the governments solutions to the dependency ratio?
Increase the age of people being able to access a pension
What are key changes occurring in relation to the families and family life because of an ageing population?
1- An increase in elderly couple households and elderly on person households
2- Extended family ties and residential proximity
3- A rise in bean pole families and the sandwich generation
4- Changing attitudes to ageing
1- An increase in elderly couple households
3.7% live in sheltered housing or residential homes, majority remain in their own
- disability or ill health, one will be primary carer (mainly women)
What are the issues for he family and society does this create?
Pressure on the wife
- impact on her health
- standard of care not very high
1- An increase in elderly on person households
47%, above state pension age
68% are female
Chambers- ‘feminisation of later life’
Why is the feminisation of later life an issue for families today?
Elderly will receive less help from heir family members
1- people move away and have less involvement
2- smaller families, less people to ask
3- changing role of women, less free time, working
Same sex couples, no children, no help
2- Extended family ties
- excluded from paid work
- dependent on extended relatives
- identity and status determines by our productivity
- powerless identity`
2- Extended family ties
PHILLIPS
Marxist, argues that the elderly are no longer useful as they don’t contribute to capitalism, state doesn’t support them adequately
How can we challenge PHILLIPS?
Alleviate stress from parents as they contribute to childcare, less strain on nursery workers, daycare people
- spend money on economy
e.g. holidays ‘silver pound’
2- Extended family ties
WALL
1950- 40% of elderly had been taken in by their relatives
mid 1990s- 5%
How does VICTOR criticise WALL?
Found that this type of family may be seeing slight revival, particularly homes with ‘granny flats’
- 10% over 65s living with extended relatives
What impact may have immigrations had on 2- Extended family ties?
Cultural diverse views in family- higher obligations to extended family
- moving places, wouldn’t leave them
2- Extended ties and regional proximity
Increased contact with extended relatives, positive
- see relatives on a weekly basis, social contact and support
Why so HEALEY n YARROW say this is a concern for feminists?
Move in with daughters
60% of females are informal carers
- women more likely to give up work for elderly relative, increasing their economic dependence
- quality of family relationship may decline if they move into home
3- Beanpole families
An ageing population and declining birth rate have led to families which are more likely to be generational
( the bean pole family)
What is a bean pole family?
More generations alive at the same time but less people in each generation
- family tree is long and thin
What impact has the bean pole family had on children and grandparents?
BRANNEN- children are more likely to have closer ties with great/grandparents as there are fewer aunts, uncles and cousins
What is the sandwich generation?
Middle-aged people expected to care for both elderly relatives and children/grandchildren
10% in 50s an 60s care
Grandparenting
47% of people aged over 50 look after their grandchildren for an average of 10 hours a week
- responsibility for this care tends to fall more on grandmothers
What sorts of material did grandparents offer their grandchildren?
Offer financial support such as pocket money
In what ways do children benefit from having regular contact and interaction with their grandparents?
When they are younger grandparents spend time with them on outings or playing together
When they are older they give them advice and support by talking to them
- they have someone to listen to them
How does the relationship between grandparents and grandchildren change over time?
It goes from playing to talking as they teach them things when they are younger and advise them when they are older
What are the strengths of grandparents living with a nuclear family as part of a multigenerational extended family?
Have a stronger relationship as you are spend more time together as you are less separated
- less pressure on mothers to care for grandchildren
What are the weaknesses of grandparents living with a nuclear family as part of a multigenerational extended family?
May be expected to look after the child which is not fair as the mother and father should be responsible, puts pressure on grandparents
What do trends in death rates and life expectancy show?
An increase in ageing population
Why is the sandwich generation a concern for feminists?
The majority of the time it is the female family members that cares for both generation, put their career on hold whilst the man continues to work
Or they move in with their daughters
Why is an increase in the dependency ratio a negative consequence of an ageing population?
The elderly people are dependent on relatives to look after them
- the state give them a pension
- drain the economy rather than contribute to it
What solutions have the government given in relation to an ageing population?
Create a private pension so that they do not rely on the state for financial help
What do postmodernists say about the ageing population today?
- consumption not production is an important art of our identity today
- the silver pound
- can buy our way out of ageing
How can this be criticised?
Fail to see the inequalities amongst different types of elderly people
- ageism
- wealth, class, gender
