Chapter 15
Inequalities of Youth and Age
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Sources of Age Stratification
Age Stratification and Inequality
Social Movements among the Elderly
Age Stratification
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Age determines the opportunities open to a
person and what kind of life that person leads.
All societies channel people into sets of
statuses and roles based on age.
In urban industrial societies there are distinct
patterns of stratification in which age defines
the roles one plays and the rewards one can
expect.
Baby Boom Generation
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Produced by rapid increases in the birthrate
from 1945 through the early 1960s, has
profoundly influenced American society.
A sizable proportion of the children of the baby
boom generation are members of minority
groups.
Childhood
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Definitions of childhood differ throughout the
industrial world.
Increasing incomes and child labor laws,
resulted in children becoming economically
"worthless“ and emotionally “priceless".
A growing gap between “priceless” children
and children who bear the burden of poverty.
Elderly
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At the turn of the twentieth century the largest
segment of the U.S. population living in poverty
conditions was the elderly.
As a result of programs such as Social Security
and Medicare, rates of poverty among the
elderly have decreased.
Elderly
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As people age, they experience more medical
problems and disabilities.
Social scientists who study the the elderly point
out that longer life spans need to be
accompanied by new concepts of social roles
in more advanced years.
Ageism
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An ideology that justifies prejudice or
discrimination based on age.
As the proportion of older people in a society
increases the prevalence of ageism also
increases.
Sociological Views on the Elderly
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Disengagement - as people grow older they
gradually disengage from their earlier roles.
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Activity theory - the elderly need activities
that will serve as outlets for their creativity and
energy.