Functionalist explanations of age inequalities

What are the four functionalist explanations of age inequality

1) age inequalities for the elderly have to occur to allow younger generations to take control of the family ( parsons )

2) age inequality for the elderly have to occur to allow younger generations to be productive in work ( cumming and henry )

3) age inequality for the young have to occur to allow younger people to cope with the challenges of adult life ( eisenstadt )

4) age inequalities are teh result of anomie ( durkhiem )

Age inequality for the elderly has to occur to allow younger generations to take control of the family

Functionalists believe in the benefits of the stages of the life course and see that they each serve a purpose for intergration and solidarity and for society in general

Parsosn suggests that society is in agreement over social roles, the reduced roles attatched to old age are necessary for social stability

Old people disengae from their centeral role in the family to allow space for their children to raise their own families, control the household ect

Age inequality for the elderly has to occur to allow younger generations to be productive at work ( what is the dependancy ratio)

It is a formula discussed in economics, demography and sociology to explain how an economy can work efficiently in accordance to who is actively contributing to the labour market, it is essentially the percentage of the population that is working divided by the percentage of the population that is not

The workign part of the population supports those who do not through the payment of income tac which in part goes to fund the welfare state

In order for the economy to be healthy, the dependancy ratio must be weighed in favour of the percentage of the population of people who are working over those who are dependant

What else do Cummings and Henry say

• Cumming and Henry suggest that the way society treats the old has positive benefits for society, the aging process and society's reaction to is part of the process by which the elderly (either through choice or legislation) are encouraged to abandon their occupational roles within the specialised division of labour

• This process of 'social disengagement' allows the younger population to take their place in the labour market with minimum disruption. This is essential as young people need to be productive and are perhaps more productive than the older generation. 'Ageing is an inevitable, mutual withdrawal or disengagement, resulting in decreased interaction between the ageing person and others in the social system he belongs to!

What cumming and henry said about age inequalities for the elderly having to occur to allow younger generations to be productive at work

Suggested that the way society treats the old has positive benefits for society, the aging process and societies reaction to it is part of the process by which the elderly are encouraged to abandon their occupational roles withing the specialised division of labour,

The process of social disengagement allows the younger population to take their place in the labour market with minimum disruptions. This is essesntial as young people need to be productive and are prehaps more productive than the older generation.

Age inequality for the young has to occur to allow young people to cope with the challenges of adult life

Eisenstadt saw adolescence as a stage of developing independance. He argued that youths need to gofrom the ascribed status of a child to achived status of individual adults.

He claimed that breaking away from the family home is difficult and emotionally stressful and that youths do fave an elemet of inequality,

Youth culture and subcultures often provide a forum for the frustrations during this period and process, he suggests that youth culture is inherently binding, in that shared interests with peers creates a sence of cmmuntiy that helps young people get through struggles

Age inequalities are the result of an anomie

Durkheim conducted a study on suicide across eurpoe in 1897, one of the four categories of suicide he identified was anomic suicide. Anomic suicide is due to people not knowing where they fit in society, when someone lives in a constant state of dissapointment as new expectations are placed upon them before they are able to judge whether or not they have met previous expectations

As of 2021 the rcpch found that suicide is one of the leading causes of death in young people, this is simply evidance to support the view that both young people and old peoples tendencies to remove themselves from social life if due to them experiencing anomie, and no longer knowing what their role is supposed to be in society