Iris Marion Young
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- September 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780195161922
- eISBN:
- 9780199786664
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195161920.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, General
These essays describe diverse aspects of women’s lived body experience in modern Western societies. They combine theoretical description of experience with normative evaluation of the unjust ...
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These essays describe diverse aspects of women’s lived body experience in modern Western societies. They combine theoretical description of experience with normative evaluation of the unjust constraints on freedom and opportunity that continue to burden many women. The lead essay rethinks the purpose of the category of “gender” for feminist theory, after important debates have questioned its usefulness. Other essays include reflection on the meaning of being at home and the need for privacy in old age residencies. Aspects of the experience of women and girls that have received little attention even in feminist theory are analyzed, such as the sexuality of breasts, or menstruation as punctuation in a woman’s life story. The phenomenology of moving in a pregnant body and the tactile pleasures of clothing are also considered.Less
These essays describe diverse aspects of women’s lived body experience in modern Western societies. They combine theoretical description of experience with normative evaluation of the unjust constraints on freedom and opportunity that continue to burden many women. The lead essay rethinks the purpose of the category of “gender” for feminist theory, after important debates have questioned its usefulness. Other essays include reflection on the meaning of being at home and the need for privacy in old age residencies. Aspects of the experience of women and girls that have received little attention even in feminist theory are analyzed, such as the sexuality of breasts, or menstruation as punctuation in a woman’s life story. The phenomenology of moving in a pregnant body and the tactile pleasures of clothing are also considered.
Mark Thomas and Paul Johnson
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197263471
- eISBN:
- 9780191734786
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197263471.003.0018
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Economic History
This chapter focuses on one fundamental aspects of an ageing population — how to pay for old age, individually and collectively. It also presents a study of the history of old age support in the UK ...
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This chapter focuses on one fundamental aspects of an ageing population — how to pay for old age, individually and collectively. It also presents a study of the history of old age support in the UK and US and concludes that despite the quite different beginnings of the public pension and social security systems, government policy in both countries has become similarly locked in to a set of institutional arrangements which were devised to respond to immediate social and economic problems, but which have acquired a rationale and a dynamic of their own.Less
This chapter focuses on one fundamental aspects of an ageing population — how to pay for old age, individually and collectively. It also presents a study of the history of old age support in the UK and US and concludes that despite the quite different beginnings of the public pension and social security systems, government policy in both countries has become similarly locked in to a set of institutional arrangements which were devised to respond to immediate social and economic problems, but which have acquired a rationale and a dynamic of their own.
George R. Boyer
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780691178738
- eISBN:
- 9780691183992
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691178738.003.0005
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Economic History
This chapter demonstrates how the aged coped economically and the extent of their reliance on the Poor Law from the 1860s to 1908. The share of working-class persons 65 and older receiving poor ...
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This chapter demonstrates how the aged coped economically and the extent of their reliance on the Poor Law from the 1860s to 1908. The share of working-class persons 65 and older receiving poor relief within a year ranged from about one-half in the 1860s to about one-third in 1908. A large part of this decline in old age pauperism resulted from policy changes brought about by the Crusade Against Outrelief. Workers found it difficult to save enough to provide for their old age. Those who were physically able continued to work, albeit at reduced pay, and many received assistance from their children. However, the ability of older workers to support themselves declined with age, and married children with families often were unable to assist aged parents. The combination of little saving, declining earnings, and lack of family support forced many of the aged to turn to the Poor Law.Less
This chapter demonstrates how the aged coped economically and the extent of their reliance on the Poor Law from the 1860s to 1908. The share of working-class persons 65 and older receiving poor relief within a year ranged from about one-half in the 1860s to about one-third in 1908. A large part of this decline in old age pauperism resulted from policy changes brought about by the Crusade Against Outrelief. Workers found it difficult to save enough to provide for their old age. Those who were physically able continued to work, albeit at reduced pay, and many received assistance from their children. However, the ability of older workers to support themselves declined with age, and married children with families often were unable to assist aged parents. The combination of little saving, declining earnings, and lack of family support forced many of the aged to turn to the Poor Law.
Karen Chase
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199564361
- eISBN:
- 9780191722592
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199564361.003.0009
- Subject:
- Literature, 19th-century and Victorian Literature, 20th-century Literature and Modernism
This brief afterward glances at the growing prominence of the elderly by the century's end, and connects it to the increase in visibility brought about by reforms in institutional care, the passing ...
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This brief afterward glances at the growing prominence of the elderly by the century's end, and connects it to the increase in visibility brought about by reforms in institutional care, the passing of an Old Age Pensions Bill, the maturing of gerontology as a medical discipline, the increasing awareness of a generational divide, and not the least, by the narratives, journalism and portraits of aging which it has been the task and the pleasure of this book to analyze.Less
This brief afterward glances at the growing prominence of the elderly by the century's end, and connects it to the increase in visibility brought about by reforms in institutional care, the passing of an Old Age Pensions Bill, the maturing of gerontology as a medical discipline, the increasing awareness of a generational divide, and not the least, by the narratives, journalism and portraits of aging which it has been the task and the pleasure of this book to analyze.
Iris Marion Young
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- September 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780195161922
- eISBN:
- 9780199786664
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195161920.003.0009
- Subject:
- Philosophy, General
Many old people who need nursing care live in residences that routinely deprive them of privacy in the sense of a secure personal space where one dwells according to one’s own habits with things of ...
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Many old people who need nursing care live in residences that routinely deprive them of privacy in the sense of a secure personal space where one dwells according to one’s own habits with things of one’s own. It is argued that old people should not have to do without a home in this sense just because they have become unable to live independently, or because their relatives are unable or unwilling to make a home for them in their own dwellings. Services and institutions offering shelter and care to needy persons often fail to appreciate what is required for individuals not simply to stay alive, physically well, and nourished, but to have the life of a person. A room of one’s own or its equivalent should be understood not as a luxury that social services can ill afford, but rather as a basic element of the value of privacy.Less
Many old people who need nursing care live in residences that routinely deprive them of privacy in the sense of a secure personal space where one dwells according to one’s own habits with things of one’s own. It is argued that old people should not have to do without a home in this sense just because they have become unable to live independently, or because their relatives are unable or unwilling to make a home for them in their own dwellings. Services and institutions offering shelter and care to needy persons often fail to appreciate what is required for individuals not simply to stay alive, physically well, and nourished, but to have the life of a person. A room of one’s own or its equivalent should be understood not as a luxury that social services can ill afford, but rather as a basic element of the value of privacy.
ALEXANDRA SHEPARD
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199299348
- eISBN:
- 9780191716614
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199299348.003.0009
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Early Modern History
This chapter explores the extent to which older men were able to retain their purchase on male status. It argues that old age, in contrast to youth, was more likely to be a period of gender ...
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This chapter explores the extent to which older men were able to retain their purchase on male status. It argues that old age, in contrast to youth, was more likely to be a period of gender convergence than a leveller of social status. The experiences of old men, and their continued access either to patriarchal dividends or to competing codes of manhood, varied considerably according to means and physical capacity. There is considerable evidence of older men continuing to hold office, and to support themselves and their households into very advanced years, and the very old were revered as guardians of custom and local tradition. Others pursued alternative survival strategies in common with younger men of limited means. Many, however, resumed positions as dependants, either through retirement arrangements with kin, or by resorting to charity and poor relief, limiting, if not precluding, access to the autonomy commonly associated with manhood.Less
This chapter explores the extent to which older men were able to retain their purchase on male status. It argues that old age, in contrast to youth, was more likely to be a period of gender convergence than a leveller of social status. The experiences of old men, and their continued access either to patriarchal dividends or to competing codes of manhood, varied considerably according to means and physical capacity. There is considerable evidence of older men continuing to hold office, and to support themselves and their households into very advanced years, and the very old were revered as guardians of custom and local tradition. Others pursued alternative survival strategies in common with younger men of limited means. Many, however, resumed positions as dependants, either through retirement arrangements with kin, or by resorting to charity and poor relief, limiting, if not precluding, access to the autonomy commonly associated with manhood.
ALEXANDRA SHEPARD
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199299348
- eISBN:
- 9780191716614
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199299348.003.0002
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Early Modern History
Apart from gender, age was the most directly acknowledged difference to inform constructions of normative manhood. Manhood was a distinct phase in the life cycle as well as a qualitative set of ...
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Apart from gender, age was the most directly acknowledged difference to inform constructions of normative manhood. Manhood was a distinct phase in the life cycle as well as a qualitative set of attributes. This chapter explores the ways in which accounts of the ages of man placed ‘man's estate’ at the summit of the life course and defined manhood in relation to youth and old age. Parenting manuals, father–son advice, sermons, and tracts on ageing approached manhood as an ideal to which young men should aspire and from which old men would decay. It is argued that although manhood was thereby portrayed as the golden mean of existence, it was nonetheless a rare commodity. Theoretically limited to a mere 10 or 20 years of the life cycle, it was restricted to a minority of men at any one time.Less
Apart from gender, age was the most directly acknowledged difference to inform constructions of normative manhood. Manhood was a distinct phase in the life cycle as well as a qualitative set of attributes. This chapter explores the ways in which accounts of the ages of man placed ‘man's estate’ at the summit of the life course and defined manhood in relation to youth and old age. Parenting manuals, father–son advice, sermons, and tracts on ageing approached manhood as an ideal to which young men should aspire and from which old men would decay. It is argued that although manhood was thereby portrayed as the golden mean of existence, it was nonetheless a rare commodity. Theoretically limited to a mere 10 or 20 years of the life cycle, it was restricted to a minority of men at any one time.
Jonathan Herring
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199229024
- eISBN:
- 9780191705274
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199229024.003.0001
- Subject:
- Law, Family Law
This chapter introduces the issues raised by a consideration of older people. It discusses what is meant by ‘old age’ and considers the age demographic within the UK. It looks at what it means to be ...
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This chapter introduces the issues raised by a consideration of older people. It discusses what is meant by ‘old age’ and considers the age demographic within the UK. It looks at what it means to be an older person in Britain today and the relevance of the law to the issues faced. It emphasises that there is really no single characteristic of ‘older people’, apart from age. It examines how health, gender, and race can all play an important part in the life of older people. The chapter also challenges some of the assumptions that surround the images of old age that are so prevalent in the media.Less
This chapter introduces the issues raised by a consideration of older people. It discusses what is meant by ‘old age’ and considers the age demographic within the UK. It looks at what it means to be an older person in Britain today and the relevance of the law to the issues faced. It emphasises that there is really no single characteristic of ‘older people’, apart from age. It examines how health, gender, and race can all play an important part in the life of older people. The chapter also challenges some of the assumptions that surround the images of old age that are so prevalent in the media.
Katharina Müller
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197263853
- eISBN:
- 9780191734281
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197263853.003.0015
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
The dramatic political and economic changes witnessed by Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and the Former Soviet Union (FSU) since the late 1980s did not leave the area of old-age security unaffected. ...
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The dramatic political and economic changes witnessed by Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and the Former Soviet Union (FSU) since the late 1980s did not leave the area of old-age security unaffected. While the inherited pension systems were rather uniform, the past seventeen years have brought diversity to the region's retirement schemes. Most transition countries have opted for parametric reforms, thus changing key characteristics of their pre-existing pay-as-you-go schemes. A number of countries in the region have embarked on partial or full pension privatization, thereby following the much advertised Latin American role models. Moreover, some countries have introduced national defined-contribution plans, similar to the schemes of Sweden and Italy. Overall, contributory approaches to old-age security — whether publicly or privately organized — dominate the post-socialist pension reform agenda. This chapter outlines the pre-1989 legacy in old-age security and the impact of transformation on the existing retirement schemes. It reviews pension reforms in CEE and the FSU and evaluates the state of pension reform in the post-socialist world.Less
The dramatic political and economic changes witnessed by Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and the Former Soviet Union (FSU) since the late 1980s did not leave the area of old-age security unaffected. While the inherited pension systems were rather uniform, the past seventeen years have brought diversity to the region's retirement schemes. Most transition countries have opted for parametric reforms, thus changing key characteristics of their pre-existing pay-as-you-go schemes. A number of countries in the region have embarked on partial or full pension privatization, thereby following the much advertised Latin American role models. Moreover, some countries have introduced national defined-contribution plans, similar to the schemes of Sweden and Italy. Overall, contributory approaches to old-age security — whether publicly or privately organized — dominate the post-socialist pension reform agenda. This chapter outlines the pre-1989 legacy in old-age security and the impact of transformation on the existing retirement schemes. It reviews pension reforms in CEE and the FSU and evaluates the state of pension reform in the post-socialist world.
Cybelle Fox
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691152233
- eISBN:
- 9781400842582
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691152233.003.0010
- Subject:
- Political Science, Public Policy
This chapter focuses on the Social Security Act and the disparate treatment of blacks, Mexicans, and European immigrants in the administration of Social Security, Unemployment Insurance, Aid to ...
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This chapter focuses on the Social Security Act and the disparate treatment of blacks, Mexicans, and European immigrants in the administration of Social Security, Unemployment Insurance, Aid to Dependent Children, and Old Age Assistance. Though framed as legislation that would help the “average citizen,” scholars have shown that the Social Security Act in fact excluded the vast majority of blacks from the most generous social insurance programs, relegating them to meager, decentralized, and demeaning means-tested programs. European immigrants, by contrast, benefited from many of the provisions of the Social Security Act, and in at least some respects, they benefited more than even native-born whites. The net result of these policies was that blacks were disproportionately shunted into categorical assistance programs with low benefit levels, European immigrants were disproportionately covered under social insurance regardless of citizenship, and Mexicans were often shut out altogether.Less
This chapter focuses on the Social Security Act and the disparate treatment of blacks, Mexicans, and European immigrants in the administration of Social Security, Unemployment Insurance, Aid to Dependent Children, and Old Age Assistance. Though framed as legislation that would help the “average citizen,” scholars have shown that the Social Security Act in fact excluded the vast majority of blacks from the most generous social insurance programs, relegating them to meager, decentralized, and demeaning means-tested programs. European immigrants, by contrast, benefited from many of the provisions of the Social Security Act, and in at least some respects, they benefited more than even native-born whites. The net result of these policies was that blacks were disproportionately shunted into categorical assistance programs with low benefit levels, European immigrants were disproportionately covered under social insurance regardless of citizenship, and Mexicans were often shut out altogether.
Pat Thane
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197263853
- eISBN:
- 9780191734281
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197263853.003.0005
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
In 2005, just 19 per cent of women pensioners in Britain were entitled to the full basic state pension (itself insufficient to live on without a supplement) compared with 92 per cent of men. The ...
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In 2005, just 19 per cent of women pensioners in Britain were entitled to the full basic state pension (itself insufficient to live on without a supplement) compared with 92 per cent of men. The current problems of poverty among older women are not new. The difficulties for women of providing for their old age have been known for more than a century and have never gone away, but they have been evaded by successive governments, not least because they are hard to solve without considerable public expense. The two main ‘pillars’ of the British pension system throughout the past century were state and occupational pensions, both of which have failed most older women. Younger women now spend longer periods in paid work than earlier age cohorts and average female earnings have risen, but a gender gap in work opportunities and pay, and in capacity to save, remains. This chapter discusses the first British pensions, pensions between the wars, William Beveridge's views on women's pensions, and pensions and social change after World War II.Less
In 2005, just 19 per cent of women pensioners in Britain were entitled to the full basic state pension (itself insufficient to live on without a supplement) compared with 92 per cent of men. The current problems of poverty among older women are not new. The difficulties for women of providing for their old age have been known for more than a century and have never gone away, but they have been evaded by successive governments, not least because they are hard to solve without considerable public expense. The two main ‘pillars’ of the British pension system throughout the past century were state and occupational pensions, both of which have failed most older women. Younger women now spend longer periods in paid work than earlier age cohorts and average female earnings have risen, but a gender gap in work opportunities and pay, and in capacity to save, remains. This chapter discusses the first British pensions, pensions between the wars, William Beveridge's views on women's pensions, and pensions and social change after World War II.
Caroline Nicholson and Jo Hockley
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199599295
- eISBN:
- 9780191731532
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199599295.003.0031
- Subject:
- Palliative Care, Patient Care and End-of-Life Decision Making
This chapter first considers the challenges of end of life care in late old age. It then introduces the concept of ‘frailty’ in older people and the importance of acknowledging dying in old age as a ...
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This chapter first considers the challenges of end of life care in late old age. It then introduces the concept of ‘frailty’ in older people and the importance of acknowledging dying in old age as a more natural event than dying from cancer or other diseases earlier in the life course. It explores the concept of ‘natural dying’ in the Fourth Age as both an opportunity and a challenge: an opportunity to maximize and learn from the capacity of those living and dying in late old age; a challenge to the current professionalization of death and dying within the developed world, where the focus is on medicalized and ‘abnormal’ death in the very frail older people. Finally, the chapter looks at care homes as a place where older people live and die. It sets out the important role care homes now have in framing end of life care, the demands that beset them, and the aspiration that care homes could be significant in challenging society's taboo of death.Less
This chapter first considers the challenges of end of life care in late old age. It then introduces the concept of ‘frailty’ in older people and the importance of acknowledging dying in old age as a more natural event than dying from cancer or other diseases earlier in the life course. It explores the concept of ‘natural dying’ in the Fourth Age as both an opportunity and a challenge: an opportunity to maximize and learn from the capacity of those living and dying in late old age; a challenge to the current professionalization of death and dying within the developed world, where the focus is on medicalized and ‘abnormal’ death in the very frail older people. Finally, the chapter looks at care homes as a place where older people live and die. It sets out the important role care homes now have in framing end of life care, the demands that beset them, and the aspiration that care homes could be significant in challenging society's taboo of death.
Gøsta Esping-Andersen (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780199256433
- eISBN:
- 9780191599170
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199256438.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
Leading scholars in the field examine the highly topical issue of the future of the welfare state in Europe. They argue that welfare states need to adjust, and examine which kind of welfare ...
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Leading scholars in the field examine the highly topical issue of the future of the welfare state in Europe. They argue that welfare states need to adjust, and examine which kind of welfare architecture will further Europe's stated goal of maximum social inclusion and justice. The volume concentrates on four principal social‐policy domains: the aged and transition to retirement; the welfare issues related to profound changes in working life; the new risks and needs that arise in households and, especially, in families with children; and the challenges of creating gender equality. The analysis strongly supports the idea that open coordination of social policies in the European Union, if applied judiciously, can contribute significantly to the achievement of social justice for Europe's citizens.Less
Leading scholars in the field examine the highly topical issue of the future of the welfare state in Europe. They argue that welfare states need to adjust, and examine which kind of welfare architecture will further Europe's stated goal of maximum social inclusion and justice. The volume concentrates on four principal social‐policy domains: the aged and transition to retirement; the welfare issues related to profound changes in working life; the new risks and needs that arise in households and, especially, in families with children; and the challenges of creating gender equality. The analysis strongly supports the idea that open coordination of social policies in the European Union, if applied judiciously, can contribute significantly to the achievement of social justice for Europe's citizens.
Gøsta Esping‐Andersen
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780199256433
- eISBN:
- 9780191599170
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199256438.003.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
This is an introductory chapter to the book, and it addresses the need for a new look at the welfare state in Europe. The different sections of the chapter are: The new welfare challenge; Emerging ...
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This is an introductory chapter to the book, and it addresses the need for a new look at the welfare state in Europe. The different sections of the chapter are: The new welfare challenge; Emerging blueprints for reform; Towards a viable new European welfare architecture—the need for a more effective methodology, the principles of justice, welfare as social investment, and rethinking security in old age; The three welfare pillars —markets, families, and government; Similar challenges for different welfare regimes— the Scandinavian welfare model, the ‘liberal’ welfare model, and the continental European welfare model; From national regimes towards a European model; and Rewriting the social contract—a new family policy, a new gender contract, social inclusion through employment, the generational contract.Less
This is an introductory chapter to the book, and it addresses the need for a new look at the welfare state in Europe. The different sections of the chapter are: The new welfare challenge; Emerging blueprints for reform; Towards a viable new European welfare architecture—the need for a more effective methodology, the principles of justice, welfare as social investment, and rethinking security in old age; The three welfare pillars —markets, families, and government; Similar challenges for different welfare regimes— the Scandinavian welfare model, the ‘liberal’ welfare model, and the continental European welfare model; From national regimes towards a European model; and Rewriting the social contract—a new family policy, a new gender contract, social inclusion through employment, the generational contract.
Karen Chase
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199564361
- eISBN:
- 9780191722592
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199564361.003.0007
- Subject:
- Literature, 19th-century and Victorian Literature, 20th-century Literature and Modernism
A look at Morris's News From Nowhere complements the earlier analysis of Wilde and demonstrates an alternative aesthetic of aging. Morris imagines the transformation of the aging body as an index of ...
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A look at Morris's News From Nowhere complements the earlier analysis of Wilde and demonstrates an alternative aesthetic of aging. Morris imagines the transformation of the aging body as an index of social justice. From Morris's utopic fiction the account moves to the efforts of social scientists and political reformers to produce systematic change. Consideration of the passage of an Old Age Pension Bill leads to analysis of the work and lives of Charles Booth and Beatrice Webb, whose statistical surveys and descriptions dominated the discourse of aging in the last decade of the century. Webb's friendship with Herbert Spencer, and Spencer's protracted period of aging become of particular relevance as one moves from the defense of sociological ‘portraiture’ to the individual experience of old age.Less
A look at Morris's News From Nowhere complements the earlier analysis of Wilde and demonstrates an alternative aesthetic of aging. Morris imagines the transformation of the aging body as an index of social justice. From Morris's utopic fiction the account moves to the efforts of social scientists and political reformers to produce systematic change. Consideration of the passage of an Old Age Pension Bill leads to analysis of the work and lives of Charles Booth and Beatrice Webb, whose statistical surveys and descriptions dominated the discourse of aging in the last decade of the century. Webb's friendship with Herbert Spencer, and Spencer's protracted period of aging become of particular relevance as one moves from the defense of sociological ‘portraiture’ to the individual experience of old age.
K. Warner Schaie
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195156737
- eISBN:
- 9780199786817
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195156737.003.0001
- Subject:
- Psychology, Developmental Psychology
This chapter presents an overview of the phenomena of adult cognitive development. It lays out the reasons why intelligence in adulthood should be studied by giving a brief history of the study of ...
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This chapter presents an overview of the phenomena of adult cognitive development. It lays out the reasons why intelligence in adulthood should be studied by giving a brief history of the study of adult intelligence. It points out that intellectual competence attains increasing importance from middle adulthood onwards, when level of intellectual competence may determine job retention. It discusses whether independent living within the community remains possible in later life, and considers maintenance of control over financial decision making. A conceptual model is then given to tackle the developmental influences that have an impact on the life course of cognition. The model provides the rationale for the various influences related to cognitive development. An account is then given of the history and objectives of the Seattle Longitudinal Study.Less
This chapter presents an overview of the phenomena of adult cognitive development. It lays out the reasons why intelligence in adulthood should be studied by giving a brief history of the study of adult intelligence. It points out that intellectual competence attains increasing importance from middle adulthood onwards, when level of intellectual competence may determine job retention. It discusses whether independent living within the community remains possible in later life, and considers maintenance of control over financial decision making. A conceptual model is then given to tackle the developmental influences that have an impact on the life course of cognition. The model provides the rationale for the various influences related to cognitive development. An account is then given of the history and objectives of the Seattle Longitudinal Study.
Paul A. David and Mark Thomas (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197263471
- eISBN:
- 9780191734786
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197263471.001.0001
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Economic History
This book shows how analysis of past experiences contributes to a better understanding of present-day economic conditions; chapters offer important insights into major challenges that will occupy the ...
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This book shows how analysis of past experiences contributes to a better understanding of present-day economic conditions; chapters offer important insights into major challenges that will occupy the attention of policy makers in the coming decades. The seventeen chapters are organised around three major themes, the first of which is the changing constellation of forces sustaining long-run economic growth in market economies. The second major theme concerns the contemporary challenges posed by transitions in economic and political regimes, and by ideologies that represent legacies from past economic conditions that still affect policy responses to new ‘crises’. The third theme is modern economic growth's diverse implications for human economic welfare — in terms of economic security, nutritional and health status, and old age support — and the institutional mechanisms communities have developed to cope with the risks that individuals are exposed to by the concomitants of rising prosperity.Less
This book shows how analysis of past experiences contributes to a better understanding of present-day economic conditions; chapters offer important insights into major challenges that will occupy the attention of policy makers in the coming decades. The seventeen chapters are organised around three major themes, the first of which is the changing constellation of forces sustaining long-run economic growth in market economies. The second major theme concerns the contemporary challenges posed by transitions in economic and political regimes, and by ideologies that represent legacies from past economic conditions that still affect policy responses to new ‘crises’. The third theme is modern economic growth's diverse implications for human economic welfare — in terms of economic security, nutritional and health status, and old age support — and the institutional mechanisms communities have developed to cope with the risks that individuals are exposed to by the concomitants of rising prosperity.
Eleanor Hubbard
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199609345
- eISBN:
- 9780191739088
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199609345.003.0008
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Early Modern History
This chapter discusses widowhood, remarriage, and old age in early modern London. It uses quantitative data to demonstrate that London widows remarried rapidly. City law treated widows relatively ...
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This chapter discusses widowhood, remarriage, and old age in early modern London. It uses quantitative data to demonstrate that London widows remarried rapidly. City law treated widows relatively favorably in terms of inheritance, and remarriage – with the accompanying horizontal wealth transfers – was an accepted part of London’s commercial culture. Only elderly widows were unlikely to remarry. Remarrying widows demonstrated a preference for younger, bachelor bridegrooms, perhaps because they hoped to obtain the benefits of marriage without the disadvantages of subjection by marrying poorer men. These marriages were risky, however, as poor bridegrooms might attempt to assert household mastery. This chapter also argues that widows who remained single and independent posed no threat to patriarchal order, and discusses their survival strategies. It concludes by examining the stresses of old age and physical decline.Less
This chapter discusses widowhood, remarriage, and old age in early modern London. It uses quantitative data to demonstrate that London widows remarried rapidly. City law treated widows relatively favorably in terms of inheritance, and remarriage – with the accompanying horizontal wealth transfers – was an accepted part of London’s commercial culture. Only elderly widows were unlikely to remarry. Remarrying widows demonstrated a preference for younger, bachelor bridegrooms, perhaps because they hoped to obtain the benefits of marriage without the disadvantages of subjection by marrying poorer men. These marriages were risky, however, as poor bridegrooms might attempt to assert household mastery. This chapter also argues that widows who remained single and independent posed no threat to patriarchal order, and discusses their survival strategies. It concludes by examining the stresses of old age and physical decline.
K. Warner Schaie
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195156737
- eISBN:
- 9780199786817
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195156737.003.0007
- Subject:
- Psychology, Developmental Psychology
This chapter reports the results of the cognitive intervention studies and their long-term follow-up and replication with new cohorts, as part of the Seattle Longitudinal Study. These studies lead to ...
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This chapter reports the results of the cognitive intervention studies and their long-term follow-up and replication with new cohorts, as part of the Seattle Longitudinal Study. These studies lead to the conclusion that, for many persons, cognitive decline in old age may be a function of disuse rather than deterioration of the physiological substrates of cognitive behavior. A brief five-hour training program on the abilities of Inductive Reasoning and Spatial Orientation involving individual tutorials was designed to improve the performance of participants above the age of sixty-four years. Participants were assigned either to training in the ability on which they had declined or randomly to one of the two training conditions if they had declined or remained stable on both abilities.Less
This chapter reports the results of the cognitive intervention studies and their long-term follow-up and replication with new cohorts, as part of the Seattle Longitudinal Study. These studies lead to the conclusion that, for many persons, cognitive decline in old age may be a function of disuse rather than deterioration of the physiological substrates of cognitive behavior. A brief five-hour training program on the abilities of Inductive Reasoning and Spatial Orientation involving individual tutorials was designed to improve the performance of participants above the age of sixty-four years. Participants were assigned either to training in the ability on which they had declined or randomly to one of the two training conditions if they had declined or remained stable on both abilities.
Jose Harris
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197263853
- eISBN:
- 9780191734281
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197263853.003.0002
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
William Beveridge and his Report on Social Insurance and Allied Services of 1942 continue to occupy a pivotal position in the history of social security provision not only in Britain and Europe but ...
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William Beveridge and his Report on Social Insurance and Allied Services of 1942 continue to occupy a pivotal position in the history of social security provision not only in Britain and Europe but also in the wider world into the twenty-first century. This chapter examines why the Beveridge Plan and its ideas were so popular and seemingly so authoritative. Although Beveridge's long public career in social policy had been mainly concerned with the quite different sphere of unemployment insurance, his ideas about old-age pensions did not spring from nowhere in 1941, but dated back to the year 1907. In 1908, he became a personal adviser to Winston Churchill at the Board of Trade, where he was instrumental in inserting many of his ideas about social insurance into the unemployment provisions of the National Insurance Act of 1911. At the time of his appointment as chairman of the Social Insurance Committee in June 1941, Beveridge had almost no specialist knowledge of pensions administration or pensions finance.Less
William Beveridge and his Report on Social Insurance and Allied Services of 1942 continue to occupy a pivotal position in the history of social security provision not only in Britain and Europe but also in the wider world into the twenty-first century. This chapter examines why the Beveridge Plan and its ideas were so popular and seemingly so authoritative. Although Beveridge's long public career in social policy had been mainly concerned with the quite different sphere of unemployment insurance, his ideas about old-age pensions did not spring from nowhere in 1941, but dated back to the year 1907. In 1908, he became a personal adviser to Winston Churchill at the Board of Trade, where he was instrumental in inserting many of his ideas about social insurance into the unemployment provisions of the National Insurance Act of 1911. At the time of his appointment as chairman of the Social Insurance Committee in June 1941, Beveridge had almost no specialist knowledge of pensions administration or pensions finance.
