The ageing population

Question 1

What is the average age of the UK population in 1971, 2013 and 2037?

Answer 1

1971: 34.1 years
2013: 40.3 years
2037: 42.8 years

Question 2

What 3 factors cause an ageing population?

Answer 2

1. Increasing life expectancy
2. Declining infant mortality
3. Declining fertility

Question 3

What are the effects of an ageing population?

Answer 3

1. Public services
   - Older people consume a larger proportion of services such as the NHS
2. One-person pensioner households
   - This number has increased and now represents 1 in 8 households (12.5%)
3. The dependency ratio
   - The elderly are economically dependent

Question 4

How do sociologists argue that ageism is the result of structured dependency?

Answer 4

• The old are economically dependent on the family/the state
• In modern society, our identity and status are largely determined by our role in production, those who don’t produce anything are stigmatised
• Phillipson (1982): Marxist POV that the old are no longer of use to capitalism so given to the family

Question 5

What do postmodernist sociologists argue about the postmodern society?

Answer 5

• The fixed, orderly stages of the life course have been broken down, which gives individuals a greater choice of lifestyle, regardless of age
• Consumption becomes the key to our identities, not production
• Hunt (2005): our age no longer determines who we are or how we live
• Now there exist ‘‘rejuvenation goods”- cosmetic surgery, anti-ageing products, gym memberships
• Postmodern society undermines old age as a stigmatised life stage:
  1. Centrality of the media: now positive aspects of elderly life
  2. Emphasis on surface features

Question 6

How does Pilcher argue that there is inequality among the old?

Answer 6

• Class: m/c have better occupational pensions and greater savings from higher salaries. Poorer older people have a shorter life expectancy and suffer more infirmity
  Gender: Women’s lower earnings mean lower pensions. Also subject to sexist and ageist stereotypes

Question 7

What kind of policy changes may need to be made?

Answer 7

• To finance for a longer period of old age, people must pay more from our savings and taxes or working for longer
• Housing policies must encourage older people to move into smaller homes to free up housing for younger people