The Fulfillment of Live for the Elderly
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- Date Submitted: 12/05/2011 12:40 PM
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A New Fulfillment Of Life for the Elderly
A New Fulfillment Of Life for the Elderly
Joyce Dalton
SOC304: Social Gerontology
Instructor: Reid Amy
December 5, 2011
As life spans increase, and the lower fertility rates, all combine to produce populations that will be much older on average. This relative lifetime balance, between work and leisure, has shifted. This shift changes things, and retirement is expected to put increasing strains on many economies, and government sponsored programs. This raises questions of resource apportionment to different types of programs. This may make retirement a concept of the past, and disappear sometime in the near future.
Retirement has meant that after a period of income generating work, lasting until age 55, 60, or 65, a person will stop working. This is a final phase of one's life, a time of leisure, paid for by savings and benefits accumulated during the employment phase of one's life. There are so many assumptions, and modern institutions have built themselves around this notion of retirement, which now seems to be a concept of the past. For those that are now approaching the age of 50, and the generations to follow, this idea of retirement can be a challenge.
There are so many myths regarding the concept of retirement. The first is that the age 65 is old, also those over 65 are not generally capable of useful work. Thirdly, those who do still remain in the paid labor force will, through social security tax contributions, pay for the benefits of present-day retirees. Each of these myths is repudiated by current realities. The age of 65 is no longer old since people are living and maintaining their vitality longer, which is something that normally would disappear with aging.
Those who originally developed the Social Security System, set the age for collecting benefits at age 65. This was due to the fact that, at the time, the average life span was age 63, which made them believe there would be fewer people...
A New Fulfillment Of Life for the Elderly
Joyce Dalton
SOC304: Social Gerontology
Instructor: Reid Amy
December 5, 2011
As life spans increase, and the lower fertility rates, all combine to produce populations that will be much older on average. This relative lifetime balance, between work and leisure, has shifted. This shift changes things, and retirement is expected to put increasing strains on many economies, and government sponsored programs. This raises questions of resource apportionment to different types of programs. This may make retirement a concept of the past, and disappear sometime in the near future.
Retirement has meant that after a period of income generating work, lasting until age 55, 60, or 65, a person will stop working. This is a final phase of one's life, a time of leisure, paid for by savings and benefits accumulated during the employment phase of one's life. There are so many assumptions, and modern institutions have built themselves around this notion of retirement, which now seems to be a concept of the past. For those that are now approaching the age of 50, and the generations to follow, this idea of retirement can be a challenge.
There are so many myths regarding the concept of retirement. The first is that the age 65 is old, also those over 65 are not generally capable of useful work. Thirdly, those who do still remain in the paid labor force will, through social security tax contributions, pay for the benefits of present-day retirees. Each of these myths is repudiated by current realities. The age of 65 is no longer old since people are living and maintaining their vitality longer, which is something that normally would disappear with aging.
Those who originally developed the Social Security System, set the age for collecting benefits at age 65. This was due to the fact that, at the time, the average life span was age 63, which made them believe there would be fewer people...