Ageism + Postmodernity - Topic 4
caused by improvement in diet, education, public services, technology and lifestyles.
Effects of Aging Population
- Pressure on public services: Older people consume a large part of public services.
- One-person pensioner households: Increased number of pensioners living alone, especially with how men die earlier than women.
- Dependency ratio: The working age group has to provide for the growing dependency ratio through taxes, creating a burden.
- Ageism: Negative stereotyping based on their age i.e discrimination in employment, unfair treatment in healthcare.
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Modern Society and Old Age
- Ageism is a result of structured dependency.
- The elderly are excluded from paid work, leaving them economically dependent on their families or state.
- Elderly people are at no use for capitalism due to retirement making them unproductive.
- This makes the state unwilling to support them adequately, so the family (especially women) supports them.
- The old are excluded from a role in the labour force and made dependent and powerless.
Postmodern Society and Old Age
The fixed, orderly stages in life course have become more blurred.
- People can now define themselves by what they consume rather than their age.
- Age doesn't determine how people live.
- This is evident in the growing market revolving around 'body maintenance' by growing to the gym, buying cosmetics in surgery, makeup and anti-ageing products.
- These trends break down ageist stereotypes found in postmodern society due to:
The Centrality of The Media - Media images portray positive lifestyles of the elderly.
The Emphasis on Surface Features - The body becomes a surface that we can write our own identities.
Inequality Among the Old - Pilcher
Class
- The MC have better occupational pensions and greater savings from higher salaries.
- Poorer elderly have a shorter life expectancy and suffer more infirmity (maintaining a youthful identity)
Gender
- Women's earnings are lower and career breaks mean smaller pensions.
- Women are also subject to sexism and age stereotyping.
There are different experiences based on class and gender that are related to a person's previous occupational position.
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- Postmodernists ignore the importance of inequalities that are related to the structure of wider society as they play a huge role in influencing old age. Sometimes it can restrict freedoms in their consumption.
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- Older people do face discrimination that limits their choices (Age Concern 2004 found 29% reported facing age discrimination)
Policy Implications
- Social policies will need to change to tackle new problems from an ageing population.
- Financial: Financing a longer period of old age, this can be done through paying more taxes, working for longer.
- Housing: Encouraging older people to 'trade down' into smaller accomodation as it would improve their standard of living and allow housing for younger people.
- The policies need a cultural change in attitudes towards old age as it's a social construct e.g. deciding what age is old enough to retire.