What is new with old? What old age teaches us about inequality and stratification

Abstract

Aging is remarkably unequal. Who survives to grow old in America and the circumstances they face once there reflect durable racial, socioeconomic, and gender inequalities that structure our lives from birth. Yet within the field of social stratification and mainstream sociology proper, examinations of the rapidly growing population of older Americans are often relegated to a “gerontological” periphery. This essay posits that the failure to place aging as a core concern in stratification and inequality is a missed opportunity. We argue for the importance of reintegrating studies on the stratification of aging and explain why such a move is necessary. Specifically, we posit that (a) examining the aging population is necessary for understanding American inequality because aging is an outcome that is ubiquitous yet highly stratified; (b) aging and being seen as “old” in a youth-focused society are stratifying processes in their own right; and (c) later life provides for analytical comparisons that are illustrative of how key mechanisms of inequality structure and stratify. After examining insights provided by a new wave of research on the aging U.S. population, we revisit the implications for understanding inequality and stratification in a graying and unequal America.

“Old age” as a social location: Theorizing institutional processes, cultural expectations, and interactional practices

“…An integrative both/and approach may similarly be applied to age relations and old age. On the one hand, as individuals grow older they bring with them relations of inequality they have experienced throughout their lives and that hold structuring effects (Abramson & Portacolone, ; Ferraro & Shippee, ). This leads to differences, for example, in the experiences of diverse sub‐populations, such as older women and men (Krekula, ; Russell, ), among migrants (Grenier, Phillipson, et al, ), and among members of racialized groups (Jackson, Govia, & Sellers, ).…”

“…This leads to differences, for example, in the experiences of diverse sub‐populations, such as older women and men (Krekula, ; Russell, ), among migrants (Grenier, Phillipson, et al, ), and among members of racialized groups (Jackson, Govia, & Sellers, ). On the other hand, an important distinction between age relations and other forms of inequality is that all people who live long enough will experience “old age” in the chronological sense and, to some extent, share the disadvantages associated with ageism in a youth‐oriented culture (Abramson & Portacolone, ). Scholars thus describe ageism as prejudice against our future selves (Nelson, ).…”

“…Intersectional feminist scholars might include age relations as an “et cetera” on their lists of social locations to be examined (Calasanti & Slevin, , p. 1), but only occasionally theorize and examine the effects of age as a form of social inequality (e.g., King & Calasanti, ; Krekula, ; McMullin, ). The result, as Abramson and Portacolone () recently noted, is that age relations are relegated to the “gerontological periphery” (p. 1).…”

“…Finally, how do individuals experience late life, and make sense of “being old”? Indeed, the graying of societies and growing inequality (Abramson & Portacolone, ; Grenier et al, ; Phillipson, ) call for increased attention to age relations and their implications for power, status, and constraint in late life.…”

Are baby boomer women redefining retirement?

“…This approach shows how retirement as a life course transition is “embedded within the context of an individual's life trajectory” (Silver, p. 478). A key contribution of research informed by this approach is to show how earlier life course events affect the resources available to women in retirement, highlighting the significance of trajectories of cumulative advantage and disadvantage across women's lives (see Abramson & Portacolone, ; Duberley & Carmichael, ; Merton, ).…”