GAMSAT Section II - Youth and Aging

Question 1

Modern Society Work

Answer 1

Large-scale precarious work and increased unemployment for the young in the late 1990s.

From unemployment during the Golden Age (1945-1973) of 3-5%. Now about 5-10%

Question 2

NEET

Answer 2

The 1990s coined the term, not in education, employment, or training)

Question 3

Views on life

Answer 3

Not just focus on education and employment, but the concept of belonging
Increased tendency to over-play the role of agency and understand the continued significance of structures, especially social class
Exaggerate change and understate significant sources of continuity

Question 4

Precariat

Answer 4

The social class of people existence without predictability or security, affecting material or psychological welfare

Question 5

Giroux theory

Answer 5

media representation of youth as Empty Category. Adults put own idea in empty space and use youth as a scapegoat

Question 6

UN Principle for Older Persons (1991)

Answer 6

Independence – basic needs, health care, work, education programs, the right to live at home, safe environments
Participation – social activities and opportunities to share skills and knowledge with the community
Care – the optimum level of physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing and access to social and legal services
Participation – realize potential and access educational, cultural, spiritual and recreational resources
Dignity – treated fairly, valued in own right, to live in dignity and security free of exploitation physical and mental abuse

Question 7

Demographics

Answer 7

Median age rise from 23 in 1950 to 30 in 2015

People are living longer and having fewer babies

Question 8

Biology of aging

Answer 8

78% of Americans age 55 and older have at least one chronic condition.

Error vs programming
Error - damage to cells and tissue accumulate over time,
Programming - as aging-clock theories, focus on how the body switches on or off certain biological processes as you reach a certain age. For example, the immune system is at its peak during puberty and slowly declines as you age,

Older adults are at a higher risk for dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease, and other types of cognitive impairment than younger adults.

Question 9

Sociology of aging

Answer 9

Age stratification is the unequal distribution of wealth, power, and privilege among people at different stages of life.
A gerontocracy is a form of social organization in which the oldest members of society have the most wealth, power, and prestige.
As nations industrialize, however, the main source of income shifts from land ownership to income from work.

Question 10

Economics of aging

Answer 10

Only about 18% of Americans over the age of 65 reports being employed either full or part-time.
They’re much more vulnerable to poverty, with 8.8% of Americans over the age of 65 living in poverty.
Retirement is generally only feasible for those who save enough during their working years to live comfortably after they’ve stopped working.
Especially in the US, many feel that their identity and self-worth is tied up with their profession.
About 42% of caregivers to the elderly are a spouse – more likely a wife taking care of a husband than the other way around, partially due to women’s longer lifespans.

Question 11

Death

Answer 11

And as the saying goes, nothing is certain in life except death and taxes.
Death - You might have heard of the fives stages of grief: denial, anger, negotiation, resignation, and acceptance.

Question 12

Bowling Alone by Robert D. Putnam

Answer 12

America needs to start rebuilding social capital
Bonding social capital - within-group or community
Binding social capital - between social class, race, religion or other important sociodemographic or socioeconomic characteristics