Sociology of Aging and the Life Course Exam 3 Study Guide

Labor force participation rates over the life course

• Labor force participation: Proportion of population working or active looking for work

• LFP increases during adolescence and adulthood when people get out of college and start working

• Gradually decreases especially amongst the oldest old because of health complications, taking care of a loved one, etc.

• High prime for working ages (25-54), dipping for younger teens (16-24) due to schooling, and sharply decline for older adults (65+) as they retire

Older adults’ labor force participation rates over time

• Majority of older adults 65+ (particularly men) had to work in the 50s up until the 70s because there wasn’t the expansion of SS yet

• In the 70s though after SS expansion, LFP in men plummeted where as women have been slightly increasing

• Then in the 90s, there was the gradual increase of LFP in the 90s because of Reagan’s tax policies that increased the need to work, favoring the high-end of the income proportion

• It hasn’t decreased since the 90s and this is partly because the living expectancy has increased, medicine advancements have gotten better, more jobs matching aging bodies, older adults want to start working again or still want to contribute, or are forced to work because of financial issues

Gender differences in labor force participation

• Men disproportionately have a higher LFP than women

  • Back in the 50s, almost half of men in their 60s were working whereas it was around 10% women 

• Then LFP in men plummeted at the 70s 

  • Because of the expansion of SS 

  • Then in the 70s, finally older people who wanted to retire, now had that public pension to help them to retire 

  • Gradual increase of LFP again in the 90s 

    • 1. More jobs that matched aging bodies 

    • 2. Under Reagan: Tax policies that favored high-end of the income proportion 

      • Rising income inequality (haves and have nots)

      • The need to work increased

    • 3. People are healthier on average today

      • Want to start working again 

• Uncompensated labor: If childcare and eldercare were considered, LFP would be drastically higher in women 

  • Years you are working should contribute to your pension but it doesn’t 

Retirement

• Retirement: Exit from the paid labor force

Bridge job

• Bridge jobs: A job (usually part time), that one takes between exiting full time work and retiring completely 

  • From your career job to another job before retirement 

Voluntary vs. involuntary retirement

• Voluntary: Leave job by choice

• Involuntary: Laid off, their health, dying spouse to care for, demoted, given enticing incentive

  • Ageism (given less desirable tasks, higher salaries for younger people, not aging ready workplaces) 

    • When downsizing, they tend to lay off older workers because they cost more, their health insurance is more

  • Golden parachute: An agreement between a company and an employee specifying that the employee will receive certain significant benefits if employment is terminated

    • Severance pay, cash bonuses, stock options, etc.

Phased retirements

• Phased retirement: Allows older workers to reduce their responsibilities and ease gradually into full time retirement

  • A professor with reduced teaching load

  • A luxury (white-collar) job that ratchets down what you do 

  • Less so for an hourly worker 

Gig work

• Gig work: Work as an independent contractor or consultant (does not get benefits from employers) and may work for multiple employers

  • Working for yourself (dog walking), freelance writer, delivery driver, transportation 

  • Problematic for young people but less so for older people

    • Gives people autonomy but when you’re young, it doesn’t provide you security or a pension 

    • If they start doing this at 60, at least they have all those years of prior work and own a house 

Reasons to retire or remain in the labor force

• Leisure time 

• Some may want to work longer because they like their chosen career path 

• Economic factors

  • Those lower-income with poor pensions are forced to work longer 

• Personal preferences

• Family-related issues

• Health-related issues 

• Policy factors 

• Ageism

Economic considerations affecting retirement timing

• Some will retire at the time they maximize their benefit 

• On average, if you retire at 62, your monthly benefit will be $725 compared to $1280 at 70

  • Incentivizes older adults to continue working 

• The earlier you retire, the less you get

  • Encourages people to draw later so the government doesn’t pay them for more years 

• Minimum age increases in response to population aging 

  • 65 → 67

Pension

• A retirement plan by employers or the government where they are given a monthly income after retirement

Defined benefit vs. defined contribution plan

• Defined benefit (old school): Funded by employers, and provide workers with lifetime annuities based on how long they’ve been with their employer and their final salary 

  • A third of all workers in the 70s

  • Today, pretty much nothing, and replaced by DC plans 

• Defined contribution: Tax-deferred savings accounts like 401K plans which provide tax and savings incentives to both employers and employees to set aside money for retirement 

  • The payout is determined by the amount of money contributed to the plan and the rate of return on the money invested over time

  • The future value at DC accounts, like saving accounts, depends both on fluctuations of the market and the worker’s savvy in investing their funds wisely

  • Typically offered for white collar jobs

  • Those financially struggling (paying for food, rent, necessities), don’t have the money to put it away into their retirement accounts 

    • Also don’t have financial literacy 

• Disparities in who has access to an employer-provided pension 

  • 60% young people aren’t covered 

  • If you work for a small business, you won’t get pensions

  • Higher income → covered more by a workplace retirement plan 

Age discrimination in the work place (Roscigno)

• Although employers may say they want long-term, experienced, dedicated workers, survey research found that they tend to view older workers as expensive, inflexible, possibly stubborn or forgetful, and bad for the company image

  • To justify cost-savings for the business

  • Replacing older workers with younger workers as a cost-savings technique

• Raises older adults’ fears and concerns of being unable to pay for their mortgage, children’s college, etc.

• Many aging workers have faced insulting jokes, disrespect, patronizing behavior, and assumptions about frailty or ailments

  • Harassed by supervisors and coworkers, and some were isolated or relegated to less-desirable, sometimes lower-paid positions

• Manifested by a culture consumed with “youth”

• Older workers often exhibit great job commitment, less turnover, and lower rates of absenteeism than do younger workers

• This has resulted in significant job displacement, involuntary exit from the labor market, and downward mobility upon re-employment

  • Consequently, this results in pension deductions, medical and life insurance sometimes being completely severed, anger, sadness, betrayal

  • Very difficult to find re-employment, often giving up job searches and retiring altogether

Age discrimination in employment act (ADEA)

• A US federal law protecting workers 40 and older from unfair treatment (discrimination) in the workplace, covering hiring, firing, pay, promotions, and benefits

• Despite this, there still have been persistent ageist discrimination in workplaces, with many employers still practicing both ageist hiring and firing practices

How couples approach retirement (joint vs. sequential retirement)

• Joint retirement: Both spouses/partners choose to retire around the same time

  • Married women tend to retire slightly younger than men because of caregiving, and the man tends to be 2-3 years older than the woman, then the woman will retire in tandem so they can spend their time together, relocate, etc. 

• Sequential retirement: One spouse retires first, and the other plans to work for several more years (usually women works longer)

Factors associated with life satisfaction in retirement

• Life satisfaction in retirement hinges on health, strong social ties, financial security, purpose, and autonomy

• Life satisfaction in retirement may be reduced if one is forced to retire by their company or because of a loss of a loved one

• Life satisfaction in retirement may be increased if one has a stable pension to rely on for retirement, comfortably retire from their job that they enjoyed, or are also continuing volunteer work while in retirement

• Life satisfaction in retirement may be reduced if one has health problems, is socially isolated, is financially struggling, or struggles to accomplish ADLs

  • Most retirees sustain busy and active lives and play a productive part in their families and their own communities; some engage in leisure activities for self-fulfillment (shopping, golf, traveling, socializing), others care for their grandchildren

  • But the low-income elderly must spend all their money on basic necessities; they lack the discretionary income to pursue leisure involvements

Volunteering and its impacts on older adult well-being

• Benefits for health and social integration 

  • Be surrounded by purpose

  • Keeping busy

  • Age integration (working with younger people)

  • Continuity theory: Substitution for social roles

  • Reverse-causation: Not volunteering that makes you healthier, but it’s because of their good health, they are able to volunteer

    • Is the people who are the most cognitively engaged in the first place the healthiest to volunteer or is it the volunteering that is leading to their sharp cognitive skills? 

• Fighting stereotypes, showing that older adults can immensely contribute to society 

• Innovative public-private and community initiatives

  • Senior corps: Foster grandparent and senior companion programs pay $2.65/hour

  • Meals on wheels: Delivering meals to older people 

    • Fighting loneliness, being a second eye or ears 

  • Co-housing and villages programs

  • AmeriCorps: Earmarks (set aside) 10% of slots for persons over age 55 

  • AARP Experience Corps with modest stipends (fixed income) for low-income participants 

    • Former teachers will be tutors

Bereavement

• Bereavement: The death of a family member or loved one

  • Stratified and socially patterned on the basis of age, SES, race, and ethnicity 

    • In some communities, one will experience more bereavement (homicide, police intervention) 

  • Spillover effect of bereaving family members (affecting the grandchildren, nieces, nephews, etc.) 

Grief

• Grief: The psychological symptoms of sadness, yearning, and loss one feels upon the death

  • Widowers feel anxious having to sleep alone 

  • Pretty universal although the symptoms vary 

  • Natural part of life that connects us to others

  • The price we pay for loving 

    • Demonstration that this other person’s life matters

    • Even though it’s painful, it serves some functions 

  • Sends out signals to the community in how to help that person 

    • Giving that person a break from work 

    • Keep going yet still give people a break 

Anticipatory grief

• Anticipatory grief: Grieving before the death  

Attachment theory as an explanation for grief

• Bereavement is painful because it involves the loss of a person to whom we were closely attached 

• Helps us to understand why loss is so painful and why not all deaths are not equally painful

  • We don’t deeply mourn the loss of someone if we are not close to them (someone that mistreated us) 

• Intensity of bereavement is linked to the strength of one’s attachment to the person lost

  • “Up”: Bereavement from a very close and child-free marriage 

• A key symptom of grief (in addition to sadness) is “yearning” or the desire to be with or reunite with the deceased 

• Any separation is painful 

  • Severance of bond is really distressing 

  • Infant from parent, adult from parent, etc. 

• Continuing bonds can be protective (Klass)

  • Still thinking about the person, helping them stay attached

    • Imaginary conversations, think about what their relationship was like, maintain pictures in the house 

      • Links back to continuity theory 

  • The notion that you cannot move on but it is expected, normal, and protective for people

  • Not normal if they’re not going out their house, developing new friendships, or not eating 

  • Survivors of domestic abuse may still have lingering negative thoughts of the deceased person

“Good death” and its consequences

• What constitutes a good death?

  • Friends and family

  • Short and painless death

  • At home 

  • Legacy

  • Spiritual needs met 

  • “I don’t want to die hooked up to machines”

    • Breathing tube, feeding tube, ventilators

  • Palliative care, and a good advanced care planning

• Consequences

  • Reduced trauma for survivors and peace for the dying

  • Achieving this can be challenging though, hindered by medical barriers, conflicting wishes, and caregiver burden

    • Traumatizing if a good death was not possible (COVID-19)

    • Physical, financial, and emotional strain on families

    • Systemic barriers

Hospice vs. palliative care

• Hospice care: Type of care that focuses on soothing your pain and not extending life

  • Pain relief and palliation 

    • Providing relief, not cure of the disease 

    • Patient is not seeking curative measures or return to the hospital 

  • Hospice care at home and in the hospital

    • Lot of support for the family (counter to medicalization) by several providers 

  • Aggressive pain, symptom, and quality of life management

  • Patient has a terminal or untreatable illness with fewer than 6 months to live in the normal course of the disease 

  • Can’t be referred until the doctor lets them know they’re dying

    • Prevents not availing themselves of the many benefits they need 

  • Cheaper than medically intensive care 

    • Paid for by Medicare 

  • Family-level approach

    • Bereavement services pre- and post-death 

    • Lingering ties with family after death

  • Black patients are far less likely to want to receive hospice care

    • Doctors don’t tell them about hospice care

  • Assumption if African Americans have not historically received the treatments they want (Syphilis), they think it’s a way to kill them faster  

• Palliative care: Bigger bucket

  • You don’t have to be dying, rather more broadly about comfort and emphasizes soothing of pain 

  • Symptom management 

Strengths and weaknesses of hospice

• Hospice use has escalated over the past two decades, bringing benefits for the dying and their families

  • Half of decedents today (but just 17% in 1997) received hospice care

  • Median stay: 24 days

  • Hospice use linked with

    • Less patient pain

    • Greater satisfaction with care

    • Better mood among patients

    • Less depression and anxiety among family members, before and after death

    • Reduced health problems and mortality risk of family members, post-death 

      • Because they have a less stressful process 

    • Because hospice is less medicalized, providers spend more time with the patient 

      • Sitting with the family and patient, talk to the patient about their life

      • Counter to medicalization 

        • Unmeaningful conversations with doctors, short appointments

  • Late referrals are the problem, undermining hospice value

    • If you get referred too late 

      • Referred at point of crisis

      • Received painful, unnecessary treatment prior to referral

      • Forced to switch care team shortly before death

      • Insufficient time to benefit from hospice services

    •  If you get referred much earlier on

      • Adequate time to adjust to hospice, transition care teams

      • Hospice staff able to develop relationship with patient and family

      • Patient able to participate in end-of-life planning

      • Quality of life enhanced by timely shift from cure to comfort 

Medicare hospice benefit

• The only way you can get Medicare to pay for your hospice is if your doctors say you have 6 months or less to live, if you want hospice care but not heroic measures (care to cure your illness): “I’m not going to accept breathing tubes or technologically intensive treatments to keep me alive”, and if you sign a statement choosing hospice care 

Advance care planning

• Advanced Care Planning (ACP): Things you do in advance to plan the care you receive 

  • An integral step toward a “good death”

  • Living will

  • Durable power of attorney for health care (DPAHC): Person legally appointed as one’s “proxy” decision maker 

    • Name someone to be your decision maker 

    • If you choose two people, they might disagree

    • Limits

      • May not know patient’s wishes

      • Other family members may disagree with DPAHC’s actions 

• “Informal” end-of-life planning: Discussions with significant others

  • Discussions are considered important because

    • Legally appointed proxies may assume (incorrectly) that they know patient’s beliefs

    • They may trigger conversations among many family members

    • Fewer economic or structural barriers to access

    • Discussions may focus less on specific treatments and more on general values and attitudes which have potentially broad applicability 

    • Helps reduce burden (stressful decision-making by loved ones)

Reasons to do advance care planning

• Ensuring that your medical care aligns with your personal values and wishes if you become unable to speak for yourself

• A gift to your loved ones, providing clarity and reducing their stress and potential conflict during a crisis

• Promotes a better quality of life, prevents unwanted treatments, provides a peace of mind for everyone by documenting wishes for future medical scenarios when you can’t speak for yourself

Living wills (and its limits)

• Living will: Written document stating one’s preferences, if one is unable to articulate preferences at decision-making moment

  • Says what treatment you want (ventilator, feeding tubes, resuscitation) 

• Limits

  • Content of document may not apply to patient’s current and specific health care need(s)

  • Content may be unclear or vague

  • Document may not be accessible when needed

  • Family may not know or agree with content

Medical aid-in-dying

• Physician prescribes the treatment, patient administers the treatment, physician does not administer the treatment

• Contested topics in part because people are unaware of how structured it is

• Not euthanasia, but really is the doctor prescribing the medication to the dying person in which they take it out of their own free will to hasten their death

• US adults and doctors generally support MAID

  • Only a handful of states that aren’t pushing this through

    • Fearing religious arguments, etc.

  • Majority say they believe it should be made available 

Active v. passive euthanasia

• Active euthanasia (assisted suicide): Occurs when a physician, close friend, or relative helps an ill or disabled person terminate his or her life

  • Involves taking action to hasten death

  • Ex) A doctor administering a lethal injection

• Passive euthanasia: Withholding or withdrawing medical treatment from the hopelessly ill

  • Ex) A doctor turns off a ventilator or stops artificial feeding

Criteria for requesting medical aid-in-dying

• The very stringent guidelines 

• Ex) In Oregon, the patient must be sound of mind when they request a prescription for a lethal dose of medication. Two doctors must confirm a diagnosis of terminal illness with no more than six months to live. Two witnesses, one non-doctor unrelated to the patient, must confirm the patient’s request, and the patient must make a second request after 15 days 

• State residency requirements 

Arguments for and against medical aid-in-dying

• Reasons cited in support of PAS/MAID: The anguish of incurable terminal illness for patients

  • Prolonged dying process

  • Unwanted or futile care

    • Feeding tubes, ventilator

  • Physical discomfort

  • Emotional and spiritual strain

  • Lack of autonomy

  • Non-responsiveness (brain-dead)

  • Dependent or strained relationships

  • Watching a loved one suffer (anticipatory grief)

  • Difficult caregiving duties, often requiring complex medical regimens

  • Financial costs

  • Coordinating caregiving

  • Subject to potentially abusive behavior by dementia patients

  • Physical strain and possibly premature death 

  • Thus people are in support of PAS/MAID because it preserves patient autonomy and dignity, avoid unbearable suffering, ensuring a peaceful death, relieve caregiving duties, relieve financial burdens, and maintaining control over the timing and circumstances of death

• Why are people against it?

  • Suicide is never an option

    • Religious groups’ view on suicide

  • It is incompatible with the healing goals of medicine

  • A request for death needs psychological care

  • Death is not an option–better care in hospitals or hospice

  • People may prejudice fate of the old, crippled, and weak 

Contemporary memorials

• Memorials that capture the decedent’s identity (end-of-life ritual) 

  • A party or nightclub-like funeral home in London

    • You can have a fun funeral that captures who you were in life 

  • Life well celebrated brand of US funerals

    • Discos

    • BBQs

    • Motorcycle

    • Epitomizes concept of “post-self” and continuity theory 

      • We want people to remember us in life, not in death

      • People want to die as they live 

  • Playing an active role in continuing oneself (the person planning for their funeral)

  • Capital exploit? Or is there something to be said with these celebrations of life?

  • Cultural norms about grief 

    • If you go back to work the day after, you can be stigmatized 

    • Dating too quickly after one’s spouse passes away 

  • Highly contextual

    • Depends on how the family wants to grieve (may not align with the person dying)

    • Final act of closure can be disrupted by these “fun” funerals 

    • No one way to grieve, celebrate, or commemorate a life 

  • Extraordinarily expensive

    • “You wouldn’t want your loved one to have a cheap coffin” 

    • Capacity to provide a meaningful celebration is out of reach for lower-income people 

      • Doesn’t mean they care any less, but is a financial struggle 

      • Economic factors guide it even though it should be personal 

    • Cremation is considered more environmental and cheaper 

Three-legged stool of retirement income (Social security, private pensions, personal savings/wealth)

• How do retirees support themselves?

• The “three-legged stool” of retirement income

  • Social security: Monthly income from the government 

    • Those lower-income are very reliant on this since pensions are typically from a good job and personal savings is essentially wealth

  • Pension: Regular payment from employer 

  • Personal savings: Wealth 

  • The fourth leg is wages/salary for those still working 

    • Those more at risk: Women, people with less education, people subjected to racism 

  • Purpose of this stool is to describe what the main components are, but the important thing is that the legs are not all the same length for all people

    • If you have a poor quality job or you are poor, you have SS but not the other two (no savings in the bank or a job that provides private pension)

    • The stool is most wobbly for those who rely on SS the most 

    • If you are someone who has a reliable and stable stool, you are able to rely on private pensions and personal savings

Social security: purposes and characteristics

• Social security: A social insurance program (an entitlement) 

  • Workers pay into the system while they are employed and employers pay matching contributions 

  • Social security’s guaranteed benefits are available to support workers and their families in retirement, or when they lose their livelihood due to career-ending disability or the death of a family worker 

• Your monthly paycheck: Where did my money go?

  • You’ve been paying into social security your whole life

  • Taxes taken out of your paycheck now 

    • Social Security employee

    • Medicare employee

  • Vast majority get Social Security even in lower-wage jobs

    • Even those who didn’t work that much are entitled to social security (widows, spouses of working partner)

• Older adults had the highest poverty rates in the 1960s

  • Now, they have the lowest poverty rates

    • Variable within ethnicity 

  • Because of the expansion of Social Security benefits, it pulled millions of people out of poverty 

    • Still not efficient to eradicate poverty

Entitlement program

• Entitlement program: Government-funded benefits like Social Security, Medicare, SNAP, and unemployment that provide financial aid or services to eligible individuals meeting specific criteria (age, income, disability)

• Acts as a social safety net

Types of Social Security benefits

• More than 69 million people receive Social Security each month in one of three categories

  • Retirement insurance: You work and then as a retiree, you get a benefit based on your income

  • Survivors’ insurance: If a family member dies, you get some of their benefit

    • Historically a big deal for women widows who get their deceased spouse’s benefit 

  • Disability insurance: Those with disability can get this check before 65 years old

  • Dual entitled: Eligible for own retirement or spouse

    • Choose the higher one 

General range of annual Social Security benefits

• How much does Social Security pay?

  • Average monthly rent in MA (2025): $2,500

  • In periods of inflation, retirement benefits will be adjusted 

  • Widowed mother and two children: $3,669

  • All retired workers: $1,927

  • Aged couple, both receiving benefits: $3,014

  • All disabled workers: $1,542

• Range for SS is based largely on family situation: $2000-3000 per month, the levels differ across different subcategories, married couples would get more than an individual because it’s done at the household level, a widower with 2 children vs. a widower living alone, average amount of SS tends not to be sufficient to pay someone’s monthly bills for real estate and food

• Thus those only living on SS without savings or private pensions are at a high risk of poverty

• Monthly average benefits across states (NJ and MA are not dramatically higher than states with a lower quality SOL)

Dual entitlement

• Dual entitled: Eligible for own retirement or spouse

  • Choose the higher one 

Spouse vs. survivor benefit

• Spouse benefit: A Social Security benefit paid to the spouse of a retired worker that is equal to 50% of the worker’s benefit

• Survivor benefit: A Social Security benefit payable to the widow or widower of a deceased worker; equal to 100% of the worker’s benefit

  • Historically a big deal for women widows who get their deceased spouse’s benefit 

Variation in older adults’ level of reliance on Social Security as sole source of income

• Nearly 90% of persons age 65 and older receive Social Security

• Among older beneficiaries, 50% of married couples and 70% of unmarried individuals receive half or more of their income from Social Security

• Among older beneficiaries, 21% of married couples and 45% of unmarried individuals receive almost all (90% or more) of their income from Social Security

• Importance and necessity of Social Security

  • For some populations, it is the end-all-be-all capacity to live here

Factors that reduce amount of Social Security benefits

• Retiring early before claiming your full retirement age (lowers your monthly payment permanently)

Race and sex variations in late-life poverty risk

• Heavy reliance on Social Security by race 

  • Half or more of their income

    • White: 60%

    • Black: 69%

    • Asian: 62%

    • Hispanic: 73%

  • 90% or more of their income

    • White: 32%

    • Black: 45%

    • Asian: 41%  

    • Hispanic: 52%

  • Those who had more privileges and opportunities (more money coming in), they won’t rely as much on Social Security 

• Heavy reliance on Social Security by gender and family type

  • By gender 

    • Half or more of their income

      • Unmarried women: 61%

      • Unmarried men: 56%

    • 90% or more of their income

      • Unmarried women: 34%

      • Unmarried men: 29%

    • Single women (historically) were encouraged to not join the workforce and to do caregiving, resulting in less pensions given to them, therefore resulting in the late feminization of poverty seen in older female adults

  • By family type

    • Half or more of their income

      • Married couples: 48%

      • Unmarried people: 71%

    • 90% or more of their income

      • Married couples: 21%

      • Unmarried people: 43%

    • Missing out on major marriage-related benefits such as spousal/survivor benefits

• Greater reliance on Social Security among lower-income groups 

Reasons for Black-white gap in wealth/savings (Miller)

• Steep race disparities in retirement savings (Miller)

  • Average family liquid retirement savings (1989-2016)

    • In 1989, there was a sizeable gap between white and Black and Hispanic families of larger liquid retirement savings

    • In 2016, this gap has drastically widened of white families having far larger liquid retirement savings than Black and Hispanic families 

    • Tends to happen along race and ethnicity, educational attainment, discriminatory hiring practices, priced out of housing markets

    • That discrepancy is getting wider and wider, helping us to understand why we still have large poverty rates 

  • Unemployment rates for older Black and Latino workers have been much higher than their white counterparts

    • Millions will retire prematurely, meaning sharp reductions in SS income that will hit non-white people especially hard

  • Black and Latino retirees are especially likely to lack sufficient resources

  • Stems from racism in the labor market

    • History of discrimination in hiring, pay, promotions, and benefits which also contributes to occupational segregation (unequal concentration of demographic groups in certain jobs or industries leading to lower wages and persistent economic inequality)

    • Policies served as barriers to wealth accumulation of Black people

      • Jim Crow segregation laws, restrictive covenants, redlining

  • This all happens because the rich are getting richer (pulling up the gap) 

    • As more people have more and more wealth, they can pay drive the prices up of everything 

    • Pay for the highest wage for different services, pay for luxurious apartments, etc. 

    • If you have a lot of money, you’ll get a fair amount of interest from your bank account 

    • Those with higher income can pay for higher quality care 

      • Can draw in on personal savings (less reliance on Social Security) 

    • When you are lengthening the retirement age to get the full benefit, it puts a cut on people who are going to die younger

      • Average longevity of Black Americans is shorter

Potential threats to Social Security in future decades

• Aging population

  • More people are living longer (increased life expectancy) and having fewer children (lower fertility), leading to a higher ratio of retirees to workers

  • 1960: 5.1 workers per beneficiary

  • 2005: 3.3 workers per beneficiary 

  • 2031: 2.1 workers per beneficiary 

  • One reason why we study old-age dependency ratios

  • Not only puts more strain on the workers, but also begs the question, who’s going to take care of the elderly?

    • Labor shortages, high healthcare costs

• Baby boomers

  • This large generation retiring puts a strain on the system as fewer young workers pay in

• Privatization

  • Diverting a portion of payroll taxes to private individual accounts

  • Results in rising inequality amongst old age because low-income workers would have less to invest; some people can lose all their retirement savings

• Restoring the trust fund (raising the age for full SS benefits)

  • Some older people won’t find jobs because of age discrimination, job competition may increase, causing wages for younger workers to decline, the poorest elderly would suffer most by any across-the-board cut

  • Those facing adversity might not reach maximum SS benefits or will live fewer years with SS benefits

Possible solutions for Social Security and their strengths/limitations

• Possible solutions to Social Security to stay solvent (save money) or better reduce poverty?

  • Raise age for full benefits (stay solvent)

    • Works for more well-off people

      • Those already rich have better health conditions

    • Someone with poor health may not make it to 69 years old, therefore will live more of their lives not receiving Social Security benefits 

    • If you’re scrambling to make ends meet or don’t speak English, you won’t be out there lobbying to fight against this proposal  

    • At age 67, it’s 100% entitlement without penalty deduction

  • Make an across the board cut (stay solvent)/addition (better reduce poverty)

    • Recent increase to adjust for cost of living (COLA) increases

    • Everybody gets more or alternatively, everybody gets less

      • May look equitable but also something politically contested 

  • Increase payroll tax on highest earning Americans (both)

    • Even if you raise the taxes considerably on that top .5%, that will generate a lot of money 

    • But can generate loopholes where wealthy Americans avoid this 

  • Create a minimum benefit floor (better reduce poverty)

    • Minimum level that everyone should have to live off of 

  • Make benefits mean tested (both) 

    • Mean tested: Not universal, eligibility requirements 

      • If your income falls below this point, you are eligible

    • Relevant for us because of Social Security 

      • SS pays money to older adults to live on

      • There’s a fear that SS will go bankrupt since there are 75 million older adults living on SS 

      • Proposal: If anybody’s pension income is more than a certain amount, then they will not get SS 

    • Free lunch, financial aid from college, Medicaid for lower-income adults 

Means-testing

• Mean testing: Not universal, eligibility requirements 

  • If your income falls below this point, you are eligible

• Free lunch, financial aid from college, Medicaid for lower-income adults 

Privatization of Social Security

• Workers save and invest a portion of their payroll taxes for retirement, disability, or inheritance, often with the goal of higher returns but facing risks like market volatility, higher fees, and reduced guaranteed benefits

• Workers should be allowed to divert a portion of their share of payroll taxes into private accounts

• Meant to appeal to younger workers who like the idea of having the opportunity to build wealth (used for retirement or to pass onto their children)

• The problem with this is that it is risky but because people can’t predict when they get laid off from a job, get sick, get divorced or time their retirement withdrawals so they have enough to last a lifetime

Age of retirement and Social Security benefit level

• At age 67, it’s 100% entitlement without penalty deduction

• The earlier you retire, the less you get

  • Encourages people to draw later so the government doesn’t pay them for more years 

• Minimum age increases in response to population aging, incentivizing older adults to continue working 

  • 65 → 67

  • On average, if you retire at 62, your monthly benefit will be $725 compared to $1280 at 70

  • Then SS benefits stopincreasing after age 70

• If you claim any of these things early, you get less (penalty)

  • Disadvantages those who face more adversities 

    • Those whose bodies can’t keep working, those who faced the death of a loved one, those whose spouse prematurely died 

Age differences in voter participation

• Voter turnout in presidential elections (1964-2020) 

  • Those 65+ had the highest turnout 

    • Increase in 65+ over the decades because they have more time, grew up during a time with more civics training, and Social Security is a huge issue for them

    • In 2024, 57% of older adults 65+ were more likely to vote than those ages 18-24

  • Those 45-64 had the second highest turnout

  • Those 25-44 had the third highest turnout 

  • Those 18-24 had the lowest turnout 

    • Younger people have really jumped around over the decades 

    • Fought in the Vietnam War, thus voting turnouts ended up being higher

  • Older people are more likely to vote than every generation 

  • Younger people have lower voter turnouts because they have more things to juggle (school, work, etc.)

• If an age effect is operating, one might conclude that people are more likely to vote as they grow older

• People do seem to become more politically aware as they grow older

Cohort differences of voter participation

• Boomers and Silent Gen still vote at higher overall rates (particularly presidential elections)

• Increased voting among older people is due to a cohort effect in which people are who are older now, have always been inclined to exercise their right to vote (continuity theory)

  • Ex) Baby Boomers and previous generations often came of age during periods of higher political activism and generally established stronger initial voting habits than some subsequent generations

  • The young people who seem disaffected by politics may never become more active

• Boomers are protesting Trump, but where is Gen Z? 

  • Lots of older people at these protests when in fact, for Gen Z, it’s a lot more consequential 

  • One reason that older people are having such large turnouts and protests

    • Trump regime is bad news, but if you’ve seen 15 presidents, that this is a complete rupture with the America they knew, striking older people harder 

      • Something quite beyond the norm 

    • Huge willingness of older people out on the streets

    • Enormous pleasure for younger people that older adults are not abandoning them, but showing up and trying to do something about it

      • Intergenerational ties 

      • Solidarity with younger people 

        • Negative perceptions of older adults

      • Showing that they haven’t stolen the future from younger generations 

Age differences in political preference in recent elections

• Young voters were a strong group for the Democrats, but less so than in 2018 

• Older people are more likely to vote than every generation 

• 2020

  • 18-29: 59% voted for Biden

  • 30-49: 55% voted for Biden

  • 50-64: 47% voted for Biden

  • 65+: 48% voted for Biden 

  • Same results have shown in 2016 and 2018 where younger people are more likely to identify with the Democrats while older people are more likely to identify with the Republicans and be more conservative 

• 2020 vs. 2024

  • Age differences 

    • 2020

      • Older adults 65+ were almost half and half

      • 18-29: 62% voted Democrat 

    • 2024

      • Older adults 65+ were half and half

      • 18-29: 55% voted Democrat 

  • Education: Those with higher educational attainment are always more democratic 

  • All other ethnicities are more likely to be left-leaning than white people 

Reasons for differences in younger versus older persons’ voter turnout

• Younger people don’t have as much time on their hands because of school, work, etc. which makes it harder to vote

• Cohort effect or age effect

  • Cohort: Depending on the generation you were born in, the level of political activity can highly affect one’s own political activity

• Older people have more factors to worry about

  • Social Security, taxes, mortgages, etc.

• Younger adults may be more distrustful in the government

• Continuity theory

  • If you were someone protesting for Women’s rights and Civil rights, many of them will take that with them today 

• Time and social ties as path to social engagement

  • Older people usually have stronger, long-established social networks (family, friends, organizations, religious groups) whereas younger people’s social networks are still forming

  • Stronger social ties —> more social pressure and motivation to vote

  • Older people also generally have more time on their hands (retired, settled careers, stable housing) so they are able to participate

    • Social movements and participation

      • Main path that takes them to protest is time and social ties

      • Younger people are more likely to participate in social movements as older adults may have health conditions, and younger generations often express higher levels of support for racial justice, climate change, and LGBTQ+ rights

• Direct and immediate personal impacts of policies

  • Social security, Medicare 

• Historical perspective (crystallized intelligence) 

  • Older people’s history, and the downside of particular historical moments

  • More motivated to politically engage 

Issues/values that motivate older voters (Gonyea and Hudson)

• Social security, healthcare, environmental sustainability, gun rights

Interest groups

• Interest groups: Organizations that represent individuals lobbying politicians to take certain actions or suggest particular policy initiatives

  • Calling them, phoning them, giving them information 

“Gray lobby”

• “Gray lobby”: Organizations that represents the interest of older adults

  • Unions

  • Ex) Reagan’s proposal of cuts in future SS benefits, early retirement benefits, and a tightening of the eligibility criteria for disability benefits sparked anger and disapproval from older adults in which they formed organizations to represent the interests of older people

Characteristics and activities of AARP

• American Association for Retired Persons (AARP): Among the largest interest groups in the US, representing 38 million members with an annual operating budget of nearly $2B

  • A non-partisan, nonprofit organization focused on empowering aging through advocacy, information, and service

  • Powerful organization advocating for retired people 

  • Offers health and life insurance to retirees

  • AARP lobbies actively on behalf of senior issues and scored a big success in lobbying for the elimination of mandatory retirement

    • Fighting against ageism

  • Provides support for older people in need through several programs

    • Free job training and placement to low-income older people so they can rejoin the workforce

    • Free tax preparation

  • Can rarely take a position without angering at least some members

Generational equity debates and their limitations

• Generational equity debates 

  • Some younger people argue that older adults have received more than their fair share of public resources, and this has left them financially advantaged relative to younger adults 

    • Cartoon of younger generations carrying student loans while older adults are riding in golf carts

      • Paints the older generation as the enemy 

        • Assumption that they’re retired, have money, and leisurely participating 

          • Those older generations were also working really hard to achieve financial stability 

      • Fuels the notion of generational gaps 

  • Fear that older people have gotten more, leaving the younger adults with nothing 

• Limitations:

  • Overlooks the economic interdependence between generations

  • Ignores women’s and minority’s hardships

Activism among older adults: patterns and reasons (Williamson)

• Black American activists who have fought and protested for racial equality, abolition, and women’s rights have passed their knowledge onto their ancestors who continue their legacy

• Activism among older adults has been shown through many Black and African American activists who fought for civil rights  and abolition of slavery. Thus, this crystallized intelligence and accumulation of wisdom and knowledge had intergenerationally spread through their descendance and into the ancestors as mentioned in the article, showing remnants of continuity theory, and showing how older adults are very active in civic engagement especially if they were raised and cultivated during a time of intense civic engagement

• Activism among older adults

Reasons why climate change impacts are more harmful to older vs. younger adults (Haq)

• Rising heat hurts older adults much more than it hurts younger adults

• Cooler regions with older populations are projected to experience the steepest relative increases in temperature over the next 3 decades

• Hotter regions with younger populations will experience an unprecedented surge in the size of their aged populations

• Rapidly aging hot regions will have unprecedented number of older adults at risk of heat exposure

• Why is climate change so harmful to older adults?

  • Biological/physical factors

    • Reduced capacity to thermoregulate–meaning reduced capacity to sweat

    • Underlying health conditions like heart disease and diabetes that can be made worse by exposure to heat extremes

    • Medications (anticholinergics) that cause dehydration exacerbate effects of heat

    • Dependence on ventilators, AC, etc. means peril during power outages   

  • Psychosocial and economic factors

    • Isolated older adults may get depressed if confined to home on extreme temperature days

    • Those on fixed income struggle to pay for AC or heating

    • Some lack support or mobility needed to evacuate or go to cooling centers

    • Some refuse to evacuate because they have nowhere to go and don’t want to abandon meager possessions and pets

      • Cannot take pets to shelters

  • Cognitive factors

    • May not be aware of or understand risk

    • Messaging (text messages, alerts) may be confusing

    • Heat/heat stroke can lead to further disorientation

    • May be fearful/aggressive around first responders 

  • Especially harmful to older women and those with disabilities

  • Many older people lack the physical, mental, social, and financial resources needed to avoid or minimize the effects of extreme weather, especially in the Global South

Older adults’ role in climate change activism (Pillemer)

• Older adults often have more time for civic engagement and volunteerism, and they have critical lived experience and expertise to contribute to such efforts

  • Benefits

    • Promotes physical and mental health among older people (increase in physical activity)

    • Taking action to resolve local environmental problems is empowering and can enhance older peoples’ self-efficacy

    • Older people experience a need for generativity: activities that are focused on improving the world and leaving a legacy for future generations

    • Older adults’ memories of past events and disasters provide valuable insights which can be crucial in adapting to and reducing the impact of climate change

  • Barriers to this

    • Lack of resources (occupying privileged status provides the individual with larger amounts of money and time and relevant skill)

    • Different environmental attitudes amongst cohorts

    • Some older people feel as though they do not understand the issues or not have the specialized expertise needed for some activities

• Older adults are not passive victims, but active players in addressing climate change

  • Older folks who started those protests 50 years and still protesting 

  • Volunteerism

    • Increased older environmental activism can offer gains to communities

  • Green consumption

  • Passing down knowledge about sustainable agricultural practices to younger generations 

    • All in this together

    • Older adults are not helpless people but are working intergenerationally to put some of these issues on the map 

Potential adaptations to protect older adults from climate change impacts

• Possible solutions required?

  • Address impacts on rising concentrations of older adults in places already equipped to manage extreme heat

    • Transport to cooling centers

    • Tailored messaging and surveillance

    • Health care workforce growth

  • Address rising temperatures in places with robust supports for concentrated older populations

    • Cost-effective cooling systems

    • Increased green spaces 

• How can social gerontologists inform climate interventions?

  • Provide input on messaging (FEMA released in November 2023)

  • Training for first responders (special need of older adults)

  • Raise awareness of community-level needs in “hotspots” with both population aging and rising temperatures

    • Need for special need emergency registries

  • Inform the placement, safety, and access of cooling and warming centers

  • Encourage cross-generation conversations and activism 

• Services needed for older adults

  • Improve coordination between aging services agencies, emergency/disaster agencies, government and ngos

    • Emergency services: Access to emergency and warming/cooling shelters

  • Mapping at-risk areas and groups

  • Communication strategies

    • Early warning systems, use many types of media 

    • Internet/phone connections 

    • Telehealth 

  • Retrofit homes, reduce energy insecurity

    • Housing: Weatherizing senior housing and mobile homes, prioritizing resilient energy grids for critical facilities (including senior centers, SNFs), discounting ACs 

  • Increase neighborhood resilience

  • Infrastructure - Utilities and transportation

    • Transportation: Aging in place, car-sharing, public transportation that can withstand extreme weather conditions 

  • Fund existing spaces such as senior centers

  • Make plans for institutional and care settings 

Generational differences in climate attitudes

• Slight cohort gaps but majority of ALL age groups prioritize sustainability

  • Gen Z, Millennials more active than older generations addressing climate change on- and offline

  • Older people may lack the capacity to voice their opinions

  • Older adults are less inclined than younger adults to sacrifice part of their income on behalf of a clean environment, pledging divestment from fossil fuels or curtailing the emission of greenhouse gases is lower in older adults, and evidence found that younger adults are more concerned about climate change than older adults

  • Young people are more exposed to climate change immanence through education and what is posted online social media whereas back in the 70s or 80s, it wasn’t as aired, therefore older adults may also be less aware of the need for pressing climate change matters

  • Younger adults are also experiencing more of this because they’re the ones growing up into a future whereas older adults may not care as much