Demographics

• Age cohorts/generations


  • Always-On Generation: 2004+
  • Generation Z: 1995-2003
  • Millennials: 1980s-2000s (Generation Y)
  • Generation X: 1965-1980
  • Baby boomers: 1946-1964
  • Silent generation: 1925-1945
  • GI (Greatest) generation: 1901-1924
• Because of new advancements in medical technology people live longer
• Estimated by 2025 that 25% of population will be >65 y/o (currently 13.5%)
• 65 is age when people retire (no longer contribute to the workforce)
• Dependency ratio


  An age-based measurement that takes people <14 and >65 (i.e. people who are not in the work force), and compares that to number of people who are (15-64)
• Higher the dependency ratio, more dependent people there are
• Living longer = older residents can contribute to workforce for longer time
• Older people are 5x more likely to use health services than younger people
• Age affects what kind of healthcare elderly can get– discrimination on age/inequality in healthcare
• People living longer means improved global health
• Old age people will need healthcare professionals who specialize in old-age care and prevention of old-age diseases. They also need services like long-term care and age-friendly services
• Society needs to readjust expectations of old age. Elderly people are just as important to society/community as younger people. With correct encouragement, old people can still contribute to cultural, social, economical well-being of society (even after leaving workforce)
• As people age, they are affected by the environment, but the environment is also effected by the elderly
• Life Course Theory


  Aging is a social, psychological, and biological process that begins from time you born till time you die – events and roles of a person's life constitute the sum total of the person's actual experience
• Age Stratification Theory


  Age is a way of regulating behavior of a generation. Society ascribes people into categories or 'strata' according to age (young, middle aged, old), and are also defined by their social roles and responsibilities too

  
• Disengagement Theory


  The loss of roles and energy that come with age makes people want to be dismissed from their social expectations of productivity. Older adults and society separate, such that they can maintain a sense of worth and tranquility while performing peripheral social roles, such that they are 'disengaged' from society and their power is transferred onto the next generation
• Activity Theory


  Looks at how older generation looks at themselves (self-concept). An elderly person's self-concept is validated through participation in roles that are characteristic of middle age (with it being desirable to maintain as many middle age activities as possible)
• Continuity Theory


  People try to maintain the same basic structure throughout their life (ex. same activities, behaviours, and relationships as they did in their earlier years of life). Older adults will try to maintain this continuity of lifestyle by adapting strategies that are connected to their past experiences
• Race


  A socially defined category based on physical differences between groups of people
• Racial formation theory


  Looks at the social/economic/political forces that result in racially constructed identities
• All humans 99.9% identical – There is no genetic basis for race. But it is important on a social level
• Ethnicity


  Socially defined, not defined by physical characteristics like race, but these groups are defined by shared language, religion, nationality, history, of some other cultural factor
• An ethnic minority can be absorbed into majority after 1-2 generations. A minority is a group that makes up less than half the total population and is treated differently due to some characteristic
• Discrimination


  Unjust treatment of a category of people because they belong to the category
• Prejudice


  Preconceived opinion that isn't based on reason or experience. Discrimination often results from prejudice
• Racial differences can cause drastic events, like genocide, population transfer (where group is forcefully moved from territory), inter-colonialism (minorities group is segregated and exploited), and assimilation (where minority group is absorbed into the majority)
• Statistically, many differences between racial and ethnic groups in healthcare, education, wealth, income, birth rates, life expectancy, family etc.
• Many Americans can't support healthcare which affects lifespan
• Minorities tend to have shorter lifespan because: limited access to healthcare, lower-income jobs (more danger in workplace), higher toxin levels in environment, and personal behaviors (drinking/poor diet)
• Asian-Americans and Whites have more access to education than African Americans/Latin Americans
• Economic/cultural factors cause this difference in access to education. Society also maintains differences
• Economically, for Latin/African Americans, cost of education can be quiet high because they statistically work lower wage jobs
• Culturally, starting a family is more important than continuing an education
• Society is structured so racial and economic subordination develops and is sustained. In order to get a higher paying job, you need a good education. So if education is not a priority, not available, or withheld because of discrimination – jobs available are low paying jobs
• Laws for similar offences vary drastically. Punishment for crack cocaine (cheaper, used by low income users) are tougher/harsher than powdered cocaine (used by rich, more expensive). Separates rich/poor (who are typically minorities). Poor get tougher sentences
• Higher unemployment and educational drop-out rates for minorities. Provides fewer options other than crime
• Percentage of minorities in jail is much higher than percentage of minorities in the US
• Pluralism


  A system in which two or more smaller groups in society coexist while maintaining their unique cultural identities. This encourages racial and ethnic variation
• Dominant groups have racialized the minority groups


  The dominant group involuntarily ascribes some racial identity to members of a minority group that they didn't identify for themselves
• Immigrants face severe challenges when arriving to a new country. People want to help them but are wary of their different culture and customs