Demography- ageing population Flashcards
What is the ageing population?
Average age of citizens in an area
Cost of ageing population- how does the govt fund social care/pensions and NHS?
When we work and earn a certain salary we get taxed , this gets taken out of our wage and then goes towards NHS pensions etc
12% of wage on national insurance
Why is there an issue with the current dependency ratio?
Because not as many people are working due to increased life expectance there’s more elderly and we cant afford a state pension
Solutions to dependency ratio problem?
By making more people work
Private pension
Lower tuition fees
Advertise migration to get people to work
Consequence of ageing population on family life?
-An increase in elderly couple households and elderly one person households
-Extended family ties and residential proximity
-A rise in beanpole and sandwich generation family’s
-Changing attitudes to ageing
Consequence of AP- increase in elderly couple households?
Only 3.7% of the elderly live in sheltered housing or residential homes, meaning majority remain in their own homes
-As one member of the couple experience disability or ill health others likely to become primary carers (usually women)
-Impact of carers health can disintegrate
Consequence- an increase in elderly one person households?
47% of all 1 person households include a person above state pension age
-Of those aged 65 and over who live alone are 68% female
Consequence- an increase in elderly one person households Chambers?
Feminisation of later life
(what women are expected to do)
Its an issue as values of society’s changed, family isn’t as important so we aren’t around extended family or geographically mobile family has decreased
If there’s just one child pressure can fall on them and they will suffer
Geographically mobility may not live close
Same sex couples are less likely to have children to support them in old age
Consequence- extended family ties?
Elderly people are largely excluded from paid work leaving them dependant on extended relatives
In our society our status is determined by our productivity so if we can’t contribute we have a dependant powerless identity
Consequence- extended family ties Phillipson?
This marxists argues that the elderly are no longer useful as they don’t contribute to capitalism and therefore the state does not support the adequately
Consequence- extended family ties Phillipson critics?
They can be useful as the grandparents can care for children contributing to the economy as spending money on care homes and economy
Consequence- extended family ties Wall vs Victor?
Wall- Found that is the 1950s 40% of the elderly had been taken in by their relatives, this had dropped to just 5% since mid 1990
Victor- Found that this type of family may be seeing a slight revival, particularly homes with granny flats with 10% of over 65s living with extended relatives
Consequence- extended family ties, immigration?
People may move with their family
Cultural implications family’s may be in their culture to love with relatives
Consequence- Extended ties and regional proximity?
Increased contact with extended relatives can be positive
Many elderly people now see relatives on a weekly basis, giving them contact and support
Consequence- Extended ties and regional proximity feminist concern?
Because its mainly a female looking after relatives
Healy and Yarn- most elders moving home found it was mainly women doing care
60% of informal carers for elders are females
Women more likely than men to give up fork for elderly
Increasing women’s economic dependency
Quality of female may decline if elderly relative move into a home because may serve as a chore
Consequence- bean pole family?
A BP family is one that’s turned long and thin as more generations are people are living longers
Consequence- bean pole family Brannen 2003?
Argues children more likely to have closer ties with parents and great grandparents as there are fewer aunts uncles and cousins
Consequence- sandwich generation?
People (10%) in 50/60 looking after children and parents
Consequence- grandparenting?
47% of people aged over 50 look after their grandchildren for an average of 10 hrs of a week
This falls on grandmothers vs grandfathers
Rias study on grandparents?
5.8 million grandparents look after there grandchildren regular for an average of 10 hrs a week represents 47% of the nations grandparent aged over 50
Saving £11 billion in childcare cost
Ben Galim and Slim on grandparents?
Found that grandmothers are putting in a greater number of informal childcare hours than grandfathers and play a crucial role in helping families and children
Stantham on grandparents?
In families in which the mother is in work or education
71% received some levels of childcare from grandparents
35% rely on grandparents as the main providers of childcare
Ross et al 2006 on grandparents?
Grandparents play a key role in listening to grandchildren
Many young people say they can share problems and concerns with their grandparents and that they will act as a go-betweens in the family
Ross et al 2005 on grandparents?
Relationship between teen and grandparents
consisted of 75 young people and 73 old
-When grandchildren younger grandparents spoke positively on them playing together but as they grew older they revolved around speaking ad giving advice, beginning to provide financial assistance to children
-Provided bridge to the past by acting as sources of family history
