Introduction to Sociology

DIG DEEPER: SOCIAL SECURITY

Watch this video from the National Academy of Social Insurance to learn about the counter-argument that Social Security will last well into the future because it was designed to account for an aging population. You can also visit the National Issues Forum to learn more about alternatives to social security.

THINK IT OVER

• 
  Baby boomers have been called the “Me Generation.” Do you know any baby boomers? In what way do they exemplify their generation? Do you think that is an accurate description?
  

TRY IT

5. 
   America’s baby boomer generation has contributed to all of the following except:
   
   1. 
      Rising Medicare budgets
      
   2. 
      Social Security’s vulnerability
      
   3. 
      Medicaid being in danger of going bankrupt
      
   4. 
      Improved medical technology
      

Check your answers at the end of this document

Aging around the World

Figure 4. Cultural values and attitudes can shape people’s experience of aging. (Photo courtesy of Tom Coppen/flickr)

From 1950 to approximately 2010, the global population of individuals age sixty-five and older increased by a range of 5–7 percent (Lee 2009). This percentage is expected to increase and will have a critical impact on the dependency ratio: the number of nonproductive citizens (young, disabled, or elderly) to productive working citizens (Bartram and Roe 2005). One country that will soon face a serious aging crisis is China, which is on the cusp of an “aging boom”— a period when its elderly population will dramatically increase. The number of people above age sixty in China today is about 178 million, which amounts to 13.3 percent of its total population (Xuequan 2011). By 2050, nearly a third of the Chinese population will be age sixty or older, which will put a significant burden on the labor force and impacting China’s economic growth (Bannister, Bloom, and Rosenberg 2010).

As healthcare improves and life expectancy increases across the world, elder care will be an emerging issue. Wienclaw (2009) suggests that with fewer working-age citizens available to provide home care and long-term assisted care to the elderly, the costs of elder care will increase. The cost of putting a parent into professional assisted-living averages about $42,000 a year, and approximately $87,000 in a private room. If the elder family member stays home, he or she is typically cared for by a woman, who is typically “a middle aged mother with children or adult children living in their household. ^[3]
Worldwide, the expectation governing the amount and type of elder care varies from culture to culture. For example, in Asia the responsibility for elder care lies firmly on the family (Yap, Thang, and Traphagan 2005). This is different from the approach in most Western countries, where the elderly are considered independent and are expected to tend to their own care. It is not uncommon for family members to intervene only if the elderly relative requires assistance, often due to poor health. Even then, caring for the elderly is considered voluntary. In the United States, decisions to care for an elderly relative are often conditionally based on the promise of future returns, such as inheritance or, in some cases, the amount of support the elderly provided to the caregiver in the past (Hashimoto 1996).
These differences are based on cultural attitudes toward aging. In China, several studies have noted the attitude of filial piety(deference and respect to one’s parents and ancestors in all things) as fundamentally defining all other virtues (Hsu 1971; Hamilton 1990). Cultural attitudes in Japan prior to approximately 1986 supported the idea that the elderly deserve assistance (Ogawa and Retherford 1993). However, seismic shifts in major social institutions (like family and the economy) have created an increased demand for community and government care. For example, the increase in women working outside the home has made it more difficult to provide in-home care to aging parents, which leads to an increase in the need for government-supported institutions (Raikhola and Kuroki 2009).
In the United States, by contrast, many people view caring for the elderly as a burden. Even when there is a family member able and willing to provide for an elderly family member, 60 percent of family caregivers are employed outside the home and are unable to provide the needed support. At the same time, however, many middle-class families are unable to bear the financial burden of “outsourcing” professional healthcare, resulting in gaps in care (Bookman and Kimbrel 2011). It is important to note that even within the United States not all demographic groups treat aging the same way. While most people in the United States are reluctant to place their elderly members into out-of-home assisted care, demographically speaking, the groups least likely to do so are Latinos, African Americans, and Asians (Bookman and Kimbrel 2011).
Globally, the United States and other core nations are fairly well equipped to handle the demands of an exponentially increasing elderly population. However, peripheral and semi-peripheral nations face similar increases without comparable resources. Poverty among elders is a concern, especially among elderly women. The feminization of the aging poor, evident in peripheral nations, is directly due to the number of elderly women in those countries who are single, illiterate, and not a part of the labor force (Mujahid 2006).
In 2002, the Second World Assembly on Aging was held in Madrid, Spain, resulting in the Madrid Plan, an internationally coordinated effort to create comprehensive social policies to address the needs of the worldwide aging population. The plan identifies three themes to guide international policy on aging: 1) publicly acknowledging the global challenges caused by, and the global opportunities created by, a rising global population; 2) empowering the elderly; and 3) linking international policies on aging to international policies on development (Zelenev 2008).
The Madrid Plan has not yet been successful in achieving all its aims. However, it has increased awareness of the various issues associated with a global aging population, as well as raising the international consciousness to the way that the factors influencing the vulnerability of the elderly (social exclusion, prejudice and discrimination, and a lack of socio-legal protection) overlap with other developmental issues (basic human rights, empowerment, and participation), leading to an increase in legal protections (Zelenev 2008).

TRY IT

6. 
   In 2002, an international assembly created a comprehensive set of social policies to address the needs of the worldwide aging population, called the Madrid Plan. What did the Madrid Plan accomplish?
   
   1. 
      The Madrid Plan successfully achieved all three of its aims: publicly acknowledging challenges, empowering the elderly, and linking policies on aging and development.
      
   2. 
      The Madrid Plan ensured that peripheral nations are fairly well equipped to handle the demands of an exponentially increasing elderly population.
      
   3. 
      The Madrid Plan ensured that the core nations are fairly well equipped to handle the demands of an exponentially increasing elderly population.
      
   4. 
      The Madrid Plan did not achieve all of its aims, but it has increased awareness of issues facing the global aging population, leading to an increase in legal protections.
      

Check your answers at the end of this document