Aging Populations

8 Key excerpts on "Aging Populations"

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  eBook - ePub

  The Social Context of Ageing

  A Textbook of Gerontology

  • Christina Victor(Author)
  • 2004(Publication Date)
  • Routledge

    (Publisher)

  Much of the stimulus for the development of social gerontology as an academic discipline, and as an area of social and political concern, has come from the increase in the number and proportion of the population categorised as 'old' or 'elderly'. Indeed issues concerned with the demography of ageing are central in understanding many of the social, political and policy-related issues characteristic of twenty-firstcentury Britain. The backdrop for much political and policy-related debate is the concern about 'the demographic time bomb'. This is a rather pejorative term for the changing age composition of our population and of the balance between different age groups. As this chapter demonstrates, over the past 150 years there has been a profound change in the age composition of the British population with the 'ageing' of the population and a decrease in the number of children. This is represented in some quarters as an impending social disaster for two reasons. First, 'ageing' populations are attributed many of the negative stereotypes given to ageing at an individual level. All the negative attributes ascribed to an individual older person have been transferred to ageing populations. These are characterised as lack of energy, enthusiasm, innovation and artistic and intellectual achievement. Ageing populations are seen as being unresponsive to change and traditional in approach. Second, the increase in the number of older people is seen as having negative, perhaps even dire, consequences for the social and health services. These arguments taken together have been used to describe what Jefferys (1983) termed the 'moral panic' of population ageing which focus upon the perceived 'burden' which the increased numbers of older people will impose upon the state and younger people. Another way of describing this negative perspective is apocalyptic demography (Vincent, 1999) — the perception that we will be overwhelmed in social, political and welfare terms by the increasing numbers of old people.

  In this chapter we examine the demographic trends which have brought about the growth in the number of older people in society by considering how populations 'age' and examining ways of measuring 'population ageing'. We then describe the demographic characteristics of the older section of the population and consider how the characteristics of this segment of society may change in future decades. The majority of the data presented relate to the United Kingdom, but many of the points raised have a wider resonance and parallels may be drawn with many countries in Europe, the Americas and Australasia. Hence the changing of the age profile of the population towards an increase in the number and proportion of older people is not unique to the United Kingdom but has a much wider resonance.

  The ageing of populations

  Demography is concerned with describing, analysing and understanding trends in the structure of populations. In this context populations are usually defined in terms of nation-states as these are the units for which data are collected, but demographic analysis may be undertaken with various subsets of national populations such as regions, counties or specially constituted populations such as inner cities (or rural areas). The structure of a given population is rarely static as the relationship between the key drivers of demographic change; birth rates, death rates and migration are highly fluid and subject to considerable variation over time. It is the interaction between these three sets of factors that brings about demographic change. In the case of the United Kingdom, population ageing has largely come about because of changes in birth and death rates.

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  Handbook of Rural Aging

  • Lenard Kaye(Author)
  • 2021(Publication Date)
  • Routledge

    (Publisher)

  Aging Populations in rural areas are generally understood to live in a wide range of smaller, dispersed, less-densely populated, and under-serviced settlements (Skinner & Winterton, 2018). The majority of rural populations are clustered in the vicinity of metro areas given historical settlement on farms and in mill towns to produce goods for nearby urban centers (U.S. Census Bureau, 2019). However, communities, regions, and states vary widely in how rural they are, as do the natural climates, topographies, demographics, sociocultural fabrics, and local economies of these areas (Krout, 2017). Thus, the experiences and needs of older adults in rural communities also vary widely.

  Geographic Implications for Rural Aging Populations

  Given increased risk for multiple health conditions and reduced mobility (including losing the ability to drive), older adults may be particularly susceptible to and influenced by their rural surroundings. Commonly cited geographic challenges are that distances to destinations are greater and places more isolated. This makes it more difficult to access and secure resources necessary for health and quality of later life, including housing, healthy foods, transportation services, social opportunities, health care, caregiving, and community services (Skoufalos et al., 2017). Rural older adults’ spaces of care are more likely to encompass voluntary sector or informal supports as a result, including delivery of goods, services, and care by family members and friends (Bascu et al., 2012). With out-migration of younger generations for education and employment, however, older adults are less likely to have proximal connections to assist with care and services (Skinner & Winterton, 2018). This socio-geographic isolation coupled with the dispersion and relative lack of infrastructure, services, and amenities often results in significant social isolation for rural older adults (Kaye, 2017). The result is a “double-jeopardy” scenario (Joseph & Cloutier-Fisher, 2005), in which rising numbers of older adults, many of whom have multiple health conditions, are aging in increasingly vulnerable communities with declining tax revenues struggling to provide necessary services and supports. The risk of residential home admission increases with level of rurality given fewer resources to address the in-home needs of older adults (Gilbert, Todd, May, Yardley, & Ben-Shlomo, 2010). As a result, it may not be feasible or safe for older residents to continue living independently in their rural homes and communities to age-in-place.

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  Ageing

  • Christopher Phillipson(Author)
  • 2013(Publication Date)
  • Polity

    (Publisher)

  As will be argued, there are in fact many different paths likely to be followed by ageing populations. These will reflect factors such as social and cultural variations across different societies, contrasting levels of resources within and between countries, differences in the speed of demographic change and contrasting attitudes towards older people and the idea of ageing. The purpose of this chapter is to review the key demographic drivers behind population ageing, setting these within the broader global context which forms the organizational framework for this book. The chapter first reviews the development of population ageing, defining in the process what is meant by the term ‘ageing societies’. It goes on to survey contrasts between different societies – both within high-income countries and in comparison with low-income countries of the global south. We will also consider gender and social class variations in life expectancy, and the rise of the very elderly population (including the increasing number of centenarians). The discussion then places population change within a sociological context, examining questions about the link between the development of ageing and individual beliefs and attitudes. Finally, the chapter considers a theme which will be returned to at various stages throughout the book: Why are ageing populations often presented as a ‘problem’? What is the historical context for this? What alternative arguments might be developed in response to such views?

  Population ageing in the twenty-first century

  The ageing of populations was one of the most important developments of the twentieth century and will raise major challenges for life in the twenty-first. The proportion of the global population aged 65 and over in 1900 was 1 per cent (UK 5 per cent); in 2000 it was 7 per cent (UK 16 per cent) and by 2050 it is estimated that it will be 20 per cent, a figure that the UK is likely to reach in 2020. Population ageing refers to both the increase in the average (median) age of the population and the increase in the number and proportion of older people in the population. This change arises during the move from a demographic regime of high fertility and high mortality to one of low fertility and relatively low mortality. The former is associated with fast-growing young populations; the latter with more stable populations including a larger proportion of people in the older age groups. This process is described in the demographic transition model , derived from observations of the experiences of West European countries over the course of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Two clear phases are identified in this model. In the first, mortality rates decrease as a result of economic growth, improved material well-being and advances in public health. Fertility rates stay high, however, leading to a rapid increase in the size of the population, reinforced by higher survival rates through childhood and beyond. Moving into the twentieth century, a second phase unfolds, with a decrease in the number of babies being born and greater prominence and awareness of older age groups (reflected, for example, in concerns about the danger arising from ‘declining populations’ expressed in the 1930s and 1940s).1

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  Issues in Aging

  • Mark Novak(Author)
  • 2018(Publication Date)
  • Routledge

    (Publisher)
• Demographers study the aging of society and the impact of societal aging on social institutions. Demographers use three measures of population aging: the absolute number of older people in a society, the median age of the population, and the increased proportion of older people.
• Population change occurs due to migration, deaths, and births. The decline in the fertility rate is the major cause of population aging in the United States today.
• Demographers divide the older population into subgroups. They refer to young-, middle-, and old-old. Each of these groups has unique needs. Internal migration has led to a shift in the proportions of the older population in different parts of the United States. We see decreases in the proportion of older people in the Northeast and increases in the proportion of older people in the South, Midwest, and West.
• People tend to move for three reasons in old age. Gerontologists call the first type of move a retirement move, the second type a moderate disability move, and the third type a major chronic disability move.
• Two things account for the greater number of women to men at every age in later life during most of the 20th century. First, better health care for women during their childbearing and middle years. Second, increases in cigarette smoking and work-related diseases for men. Current trends show an improvement in life expectancy for men. This will lead to more similar numbers of men and women in old age in the future.
• Demographic studies show an increase in the elderly dependency ratio. Some researchers believe that this increase will lead to a future crisis in the cost of services for older people. Other researchers believe that the older population will lead society to a better use of resources.
• Most gerontologists agree that U.S. society needs to prepare for an aging population. New policies and new approaches to services can meet the challenges of population aging.
• The oldest members of the Baby Boom generation turned 60 in 2005. This generation will enter old age in large numbers in the next 30 years. They will change the meaning of later life during their Third Age (between ages 60 and 85).