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.