The Ageing Population Flashcards
Describe the UK’s ageing population
- The average age of the UK population is rising. 1971, it stood at 40.3. By 2037, it’s projected to reach 42.8.
- There are fewer young people and more old people. The number aged 65 or over equalled the number of under-15s for the first time ever in 2014
Describe ‘age pyramids’
- Age pyramids show how older age groups are growing as a proportion of the population, while younger groups are shrinking
- Hirsch notes the traditional age ‘pyramid’ is disappearing and being replaced by more or less equal-sized ‘blocks’ representing the different age groups. e.g., by 2041, there will be as many 78 year olds as 5 year olds
What are the three factors causing age population?
- Increasing life expectancy: people living longer into old age
- Declining infant mortality: nowadays hardly anyone dies early in life
- Declining fertility: fewer young people born in relation to the number of older people in the population
What are affected by an ageing population?
- Public services
- One-person pensioner households
- The dependency ratio
Describe the effects of an ageing population on public services
- Older people consume a larger proportion of services like health and social care than other age groups. This is particularity true of the ‘old old’ (75 or over) as against the ‘young old’ (65-74). However, we should beware of over-generalising as many people remain in relatively good health well into old age
- In addition to increased spending on health care, an ageing population means changes to policies and provision of housing, transport or other services
Describe the effects of an ageing population on one-person pensioner households
- The number of pensioners living alone has increased and one-person pensioner households account for about 12.5 of all households. Most of these are female, both because women generally live longer than men, and because they’re usually younger than their husbands
- Among the over 75s, there are twice as many women as men. This has been described as the feminisation of later life.’
Describe the effects of an ageing population on the dependency ratio
- The non-working old are an economically dependent group who need to be provided for by those of working age, e.g. though tax to pay for pensions and health care
- As the number of retired people rises, the dependency ratio increases and the burden on the working population.
Describe the trend of the dependency ratio
In 2015, there were 3.2 people of working age for every one pensioner. This ration to predicted to fall to 2.8 to one by 2033.
Give evaluation for the effects of an ageing population on the dependency ratio
- It would be wrong to assume that ‘old’ necessarily equals ‘economically dependent’ e.g. the age at which people can draw their pension is rising.
- From 2020 both men and women will have to wait until they’re 66 to access the state pension, rising 67 from 2026
- While an increase in the number of old people raises the dependency ratio, in an ageing population this is offset by a declining number of dependent children
Define ageism
Negative stereotyping and unequal treatment of people on the basis of their age
Describe ageism as a consequence of the ageing population in modern society
- Ageism towards older people shows itself in many ways, like discrimination in employment and unequal treatment in health care
- Similarly, much of discourse about old age and ageing has been constructed as a ‘problem’ - e.g. in terms of the cost of pension or health care
What is ageism a result of and how does it link to modern society?
- Many sociologists argue ageism is the result of ‘structured dependency’. The old are largely excluded from paid work, leaving them economically dependent on their families or the state.
- In modern society, our identity and status are determined by our role in production. Those excluded from production by compulsory retirement have a dependent status and a stigmatises identity
Describe ‘structured dependency’ from a Marxist perspective
Phillipson argues that the old are of no use to capitalism as they’re no longer productive. The state is then unwilling to support them adequately and so the family, especially females, often have to take responsibility for their care
How is age structured in modern society and what are the effects on the old?
- In modern society, life is structured into a fixed series of stages, e.g. childhood, youth etc.
- Age becomes important in role allocation, creating fixed life stages and age-related identities, like worker or pensioner. The old are excluded from a role in the labour force and made dependent and powerless
How is age structured in post modern society?
- Postmodernist sociologists argue that in today’s postmodern society, the fixed stages of life have been broken down.
- e.g. trends like children dressing in adult styles, later marriage and early retirement all begin to blur the boundaries between the life stages. This gives individuals a greater choice of lifestyle, whatever their age
What effects of age in post modern society?
- Unlike in modern society, consumption, not production, becomes the key to our identities. We can define ourselves by what we consume
- Hunt argues this means we can choose a lifestyle and identity regardless of age: our age no longer determines who we are or how we live
How does the old become a market in postmodern society and how does it affect postmodern society?
- As a result, the old become a market for a range of ‘body maintenance’ goods and services through which they can create their identities. These include cosmetic surgery, exercise equipment and anti-ageing memberships.
- These trends begin to break the ageist stereotypes found in modern society
What are two other features of postmodern society and what do they do?
Two other features of postmodern society also undermine old age as a stigmatised life stage
- Centrality of the media: Media images now portray positive aspects of the lifestyles of the elderly
- The emphasis on surface features: The body becomes a surface on which we can write our identities. Anti-ageing products enable the old to write different identites for themselves
Outline what is meant by inequality among the old
- While the orderly stages of the life course have broken down, Pilcher argues that inequalities like class and gender remain important.
- Many of these are related to the individual’s previous occupational position
Describe class inequalities among the old
The middle class have better occupational pensions and greater savings from higher salaries. Poorer old people have a shorter life expectancy and suffer more infirmity (making it more difficult to maintain a youthful self-identity)
Describe gender inequalities among the old
Women’s lower earnings and career breaks as a carers mean lower pensions. They’re also subject to sexist as well as ageist stereotyping, e.g. being described as ‘old hags’
Give evaluation for postmodernists and old age
- Postmodernists understate the importance of such inequalities. These are related to the structure of wider society and they play a major part in shaping the experience of old age, often restricting the freedom of the elderly to choose an identity through their consumption
- Older people also face discrimination that limits their choices: Age Concern found 29% of people reported suffering age discrimination than any other form
Outline policy implications of the ageing population
Hirsch argues some social policies will need to change to tackle the new problems posed by an ageing population.
What are the main policies that may need to change?
- The main problem will be how to finance a longer period of old age. This can be done paying more from our saving taxes while we’re working, or by working for longer or both.
- Housing policy may need to change to encourage older people to ‘trade down’ into smaller accommodation. This would release wealth to improve their standard living and free up housing for younger people
What do policies changes also require?
- Hirsch recognises these changes require a cultural change in our attitudes towards old age.
- His view illustrates the notion that old age is social construct (not biological, but shaped by society). e.g. in an ageing society, our idea of how old is enough to retire may change
