Inequality: Youth & Age, 2023 PDF

Inequality: Youth & Age https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Weg zglZlwA  Age Age is individual characteristic resultating in social division across societies because life is periodicised through age strata differences; Unequal distribution of economic & cultural reso...

Inequality: Youth & Age https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Weg zglZlwA  Age Age is individual characteristic resultating in social division across societies because life is periodicised through age strata differences; Unequal distribution of economic & cultural resources; Older age used to be accompanied by earlier retirement in many higher income countries, exist from labour market, leading to lifestyle adjustments and potential changes in status. UK: employers fear to be accused of agism  Age as social construction Age perceived differently across societies: ---highly valued vs viewed as low status; Because of the nature of social and technological changes, generations have very different lived experiences; Globally, society is simply greying, with all societies ageing, but this i not happening equally and there is a massive inequalities in terms of life expectancy;  Task 4.1 What is a value of being younger in your country and Asia? What are roles of children? - are they visible? What expectations do they experience? How are these experiences likely to be different when you use an intersectional lens in your analysis? What words are commonly used to describe younger people? How might your experiences shape your own views?  Negative words about old people in UK  Changing patterns of youth & age More people living longer/ challenges: --- increasing life expectancy does not necessary result in a healthy life expectancy /need for health & social care; Social class intersects the divisions of age that groups of people of a certain age have different life chances; The material deprivation and inequality structured by class, gender, ethnicity, employment and sexuality become exaggerated in later life; Those who found difficult to enter to labour market - the most materially deprivated; Lower income countries: older people are ignored bause of a lot of other problems; social implications of aging: health status, work status, the experience of inequalities, isolation  Media concerns about the aging population Concerns about capacity of the health service to cope with demands from old people (bed bockers; inequalities in who can afford the care); As soaking more tax payers money with regard to demands of social care; digital services exclude; The concept of retirement at the younger age is no longer sustainable because of the demands that this places on the welfare state;  Distorted image of age-related challenges (Walker, 2018) “evidence – free zone”; Framing issues as a crisis makes good headlines and works as a smokerscreen to deflect attention away from other social policy issues; The need to move away from deficit models of ageing that succesful ageing is underrstood beyond “just” contribution to paid employment changes; Many older people live longer with a good quality of life; Older people contribute to society in many ways  Ageing society : positive aspects Over 65 make economic contributions: in work (taxes), spending power; Contribute time & money to charities via volunteering or take care of family members (grandchildren care : saves oney for state & family); Contribute to younger generations in financial terms through inheritance, housing, gifts); Evidence shows that it is not age that increases health care costs, rather time Media concerns about youth Blaming “stupid millennials” about the risk – taking behavior: media exaggerate differences between the generation through the use of labels; Cost of higher education & debt burden facing many students: the poorest contingent with higher debt; Burden of financial debt (only 25% of students are expected to be able to afford to pay back); a time of increasing support for right –wing policies, broader uncertainty –unwellcome attitudes towards migrants, but are more tolerant to homosexuality & racial diversity  Mods, Rockers and Moral Panics https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r61ks 18Bd7I In what ways are the young people/their issues? Their behavior reported on as “wrong” or as “an issue”; How might such reports feed into inequalities within societies?  The concept of lifecourse Our childhood experience affect later life: social class, income (divorse), family type & structure (single parent); Social background matters for early educational outcomes; Experiences in older age are related to earlier inequalities; child spent in poverty affect health; Cohort effects: more insecure work, no own flat, bigger total inheritance;  Challenges to millennials Democraphic change; Brexit Globalisation Technological change; Environmental changes; Policy changes (higher university fees, but wages are stagnating) COVID19: lose their jobs, difficult to adapt to working at home, experience lower well-being  Intersectional lens to comparing generations Women tend to live for longer than men, poorer health & higher levels of disability because of accumulation of economic disadvantages; The feminazation of poverty in older age Invisibility of older women in a society; Ageism if more often issue of women than men  Adoloscence Adolescence is a crucial stage at which the resources required to ensure health and well-being later in life are laid down and established; Health issues; Education inequalities: attending university is part of a “rite of passage” for young people from higher – income families; Food shortage, conflict, economic challenge  University education & inequalities Changing marketisation of university: --- introduction of students fees; --- subsequent price rises; --- changes in research funding; --- the reduction of subsidies in several areas; Education has become “an individual consumer good to be acquired in the marketplace”, rather than a social good; it does not always lead to economic rewards  Middle age Events occur that affect economic position, wellbeing, mental health & can move to poverty the birth of children; children leaving home divorce; the onset of disability’ unemployment, redundancy retirement; “sandwitch generation” – a group of people who are sandwitch between demands of caring for young people (children) and older generation (parents & grandparents) COVID increased emotional and financial pressures to support different generations  Task 4.3. The accumulation of disadvantage across the lifecourse What do you think are the major risk factors which accumulate to create disadvantage in later life? Use an intersectional lens to examine the ways in which social divisions interlink to create better and/or worse lifecourse experiences for people; Do you think that an ageing population is necessarily bad think? Consider your own age as you reflect upon this question (might your views change as  Explaining age-based divisions (I) Functionalist perspective (Parsons): Western societies: domiance of a focus on youth and the avoidance of death; Older people need to psychologically adjust to their new circumstances & find new and productive roles Disengagement theory Older people should disengage from society, when they are not longer useful as it enables society to function more effectively; Giddens & Sutton: whether the circumstances facing older people are fair and just; this approach do not recognize existing inequalities  Explaining age-based divisions (II) Political economy: focuses upon aging in economic & political systems that reproduce power & inequalities; Women- caring responsibilities –lower incomes – less to pension schemes – financial hardships Age stratification theory: --- structural lag – a label used to describe how the structures within society do not keep pace with changing circumstances; --- the people are healthier for longer & can stay employed & retire later  Explaining age-based divisions (III) Lifecourse perspective: ageing the process that continues from birth to death (Giddens 2009); Do not focus on the older people as a distinct group, rather they explore the complexity of social relationships, social processes, social structures and psychology (Giddens & Sutton 2017) State & capitalism marginalize older people (Estes et, 2003): aging has to be understood in relation to other social forces, and intersectionality has to be accounted for i.e. how all social division intersect within older age Task 4.4. Age based divisions and inequalities across the lifecourse Giddens & Sutton (2021) discuss the notion of social ageing, the idea that classifications and associated expectations are socially constructed and created. So finally what are the norms, values and expectations associated with the stages of ageing that you have identified? How do these values and expectations link to inequalities?  Ageism Ageism – discrimination against people on the basis how old they are; therefore is not restricted to older people (Giddens & Sutton 2017) Ageism is the most prevalent form of discrimnation within the Europe (UK) (Bratt et al. 2018); Ageism occurs in a number context & settings  Ageism & associated inequalities Employment – fewer opportunities are given for older & younger people; For women, media is an area where ageism is reported within few opportunities for those aged 40 and over in such an industry; Healthcare – in terms of treatment of older patients, rationing of some care, and overall attitudes exhibited; some services are skewed in favor of the young and conditions affecting those who are older receive less funding  Ageism across the Europe Ageism across the Europe remains a multigenerational issue (Bratt et al 2020); “ the same social environments are experienced differently by younger & older people, and that where conditions improve for older people, the conditions for younger people might well declined”; Labels legitimise the separation of people, and result in their different treatment (Giddens & Sutton 2017); “gerontophobia” - fear of ageing