The Accumulations of Inequality: Elders and Eldercare in Hard Times

• In Event: 349 - Section on Aging and the Life Course Roundtable Session
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 05. Inequality and Insecurity

Abstract

The United States is quietly undergoing a seismic shift that begins with the Baby Boomers and will continue to characterize our populace and the demographic profile of many similar developed nations: we are getting old. By the year 2050, demographers anticipate that there will be more elders than young people world wide. In the U.S., this “global aging” phenomenon will play out alongside other dramatic changes in demographics, specifically the move to a minority majority population. And all these changes will take place against the backdrop of an economy that produces fewer jobs for working class people. Based on research from her 2013 book How We Die Now: Intimacy and the Work of Dying, Erickson considers the consequences of social inequality at the end of life and the potential for intergenerational conflict or convergence.

Author

• Karla A. Erickson, Grinnell College