Main Menu
Defining Old Age
Employment
Aging of Population
Life Expectancy
Inequality
Marital Status
Sources of Income
Death
Staying Active
How do we define old age?
• Chronological Age:
– In the United States, 65 is
considered old because
people can receive Social
Security benefits and
Medicare; however, the
eligibility age has risen for
some to 67
– Does this mean old age now
begins at 67?
– In order to join the American
Association of Retired
Persons (AARP), a member
has to be 50.
– Should 50 be considered old
age?
• Older Age is divided into 3
categories based on
chronological age:
– Young old: ages 65-74
– Middle old: ages 75-84
– Oldest old: ages 85-older
Defining Old Age
• Functional Age:
– One is defined as being old
based on how he/she looks
and what he/she can do
– Does this mean a women (age
75) who can swim five laps in
a pool is younger than a man
(age 40) who can swim only
one lap?
– Cosmetic surgery can alter the
way people look, thus, altering
their appearance
– Three categories of functional
age:
• Well Elderly
• Somewhat impaired
• Frail Elderly
• Subjective Age:
– Is concerned with how the
individual defines themselves
– How one perceives
themselves in age is greatly
dependent on one’s functional
age
– The two most important
factors in determining
subjective age are:
• One’s activity level
• One’s health
How has the population aged over time?
Aging of the Population
•
1900:
– 3.1 million older adults
– About 1 of every 25 people
– Approximately 4% of population
•
2002:
– 35+ million older adults
– About 1 of every 8 people
– Approximately 13% of population
•
2000:
–
–
–
–
–
15% of whites 65+
8.2% of blacks 65+
7.8% of Asians and Pacific Islanders 65+
6.0% of American Indians and Native
Alaskans 65+
4.9% of Hispanics 65+
• The United Nations Typology
of Aging:
– Young Country
– Mature Country
• Between 4%-7% of the
population is 65+
• Less than 4% of the
population is 65+
– Aged Country
• More than 7% of the
population is 65+
• Population Pyramids:
– http://www.census.gov/ipc/ww
w/idbpyr.html
– Is the United States a young,
mature, or old country?
Who lives longer?
• Increase in population of
those 65+ is due to an
increase in life
expectancy
• Life expectancy is defined
as the average number of
years people in a given
population can expect to
live
• Who lives longer, men or
women?
Life Expectancy
• Leading causes of death
in 1900:
– Pneumonia and influenza
– Tuberculosis
– Gastritis, enteritis, colitis
• Leading causes of death
in 1998:
– Cardiovascular disease
– All cancers
– Chronic obstructive
pulmonary disease
• Today, more older adults suffer
from chronic illnesses such as
cancer, diabetes, arthritis, and
osteoporosis due to
improvements in
medicine/technology and the
decline in parasitic diseases
•
Who do you think suffers from
more chronic illnesses, men or
women?
Who spends more time in
widowhood?
•
•
•
A larger
percentage of
women are
widows due to
the shorter life
expectancy of
their male
partners
In addition,
widowed men
are seven times
more likely to
remarry than
widowed women
Why are women
less likely to
remarry after the
death of a
spouse than their
male
counterparts?
Sources of Income for Older Adults
in 2000
Social Security
Pensions
Savings/Assets
Inequality in Old Age
•
Theory of Cumulative
Disadvantage:
–
•
A theory that people who
begin life with greater
resources continue to have
opportunities to accumulate
more of them while those
who begin with few
resources fall further behind
What group/s are at a an
economic disadvantage in
old age?
1.
2.
Women
Minorities
• Gender Inequality:
– Women have lower incomes
than men, thus receiving less
in Social Security Benefits
– Women have unstable work
histories due to child labor
– Women are less likely than
men to receive money from
pensions:
• 30% of white women
• 10% black women
• 13% Hispanics women
– Women work in jobs that lack
pension plans
Inequality in Old Age
• Race/Ethnic Inequality:
– 2001 poverty level:
• 8.9% of elderly whites
• 21.9% of elderly blacks
• 21.8% of Hispanics
– African Americans:
• due to discrimination,
have experienced higher
rates of unemployment
and are payed less
• Work in more blue-collar,
service industry jobs
•
Hispanics:
– 1995 Poverty Statistics
• 31.7% of Puerto Ricans
• 23.1% of Mexicans
• 12.1% of Cubans
– Mexicans have the lowest
rates of health insurance due
to migrant work
– Many are unable to receive
Social Security Benefits
because they are illegal aliens
• Native Americans:
– Have this highest
unemployment rates of all
minorities
– Most poorly educated of all
minorities
How do older adults stay active?
• Volunteering
• Exercising
• Religious
Participation
Employment
• Employment:
– In 2001, 13.1% of Americans
65+ were in the labor force
• 2.5 million men
• 1.8 million women
• Age Discrimination in
Employment Act of 1967:
– Banned discrimination against
workers aged 40-65 and
forbade employers to fire,
demote, or reduce the salaries
of older workers without good
cause
• Bridge Jobs:
– are jobs which span the period
between full-time employment and
permanent retirement
• Contingent Work:
– An arrangement under which
workers do not become a part
of a firm’s permanent
workforce, but are hired only
to do a specific job on a parttime or temporary basis
• Retirement:
– Duties:
• Avoid full time employment
• Sometimes provide free
services
• Live within income
• Do not become a burden to
family and society
– Crisis theory – views the
occupational role as the major
source of personal validation
Stages of Dying
•
Elizabeth Kubler- Ross:
– Stages of Dying
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Denial
Anger
Bargain
Depression
Acceptance
• Hospice:
– Goal is to allow the
terminally ill to die easily
and in peace, without pain,
in their own homes, special
units of hospitals, or
hospice facilities
• Active Euthanasia:
– Occurs when a physician,
close friend, or relative
helps an ill or disabled
person terminate his or her
life
• Passive Euthanasia:
– Withdrawing medical
treatment from the
hopelessly ill