Intergenerational Inequity Between Generations

Elderly people (women and men age sixty-five or older) (Macionis, 2005), Have many obstacles to face as they grow older, many of these obstacles involve social inequality. Not only do the elderly have to learn to deal with many forms of Ageism (the stereotyping and prejudice against individuals or groups because of their age), some also have to deal with the fact that they do not have enough savings or pension benefits to be self supporting, for most people over sixty-five, the major source of income is social security (Macionis, 2005). This forces many elderly Americans back into the workforce to continue to earn money to support themselves and or spouses. Although many elderly Americans may choose

In “The Social Security Problem”, Max Moore discusses the fearful reality of Social Security running out of funds. He states that the U.S. Department of the Treasury predicts that Social Security funds will run out by 2041 and action must be taken in order to prevent this (134). In his essay, he explains how the depletion of Social Security funds are a result from a decreasing retirement age, decreasing fertility rate, and shrinking work force. These things contribute to an increased population relying on Social Security, an increased population of the elderly, and a decreased ratio of workers paying for those beneficiaries (135). Moore explains the proposal of George W. Bush to make Social Security partially privatized; allowing young workers to invest their retirement savings into their own account. This would result in people putting their retirement on the line in

Majority thinks that America is the land of opportunity, where the lower class has the ability to succeed and prosper; statistically the truth is less expectant. According to facts presently, the smallest percentage of Americans earns over $1,000,000. The next smallest percentage of Americans earn over $125,000. Meanwhile, the median income that Americans earn is $41,000. Any American can succeed with the right mind set. Facts also show that more Americans considered to be wealthy have earned it rather than inherited it. I come from a family that is considered to be working class. My parents didn’t own their first home until I was 15, and I am the youngest of four children. Hard work does pay off, and I have seen it.

For most of America’s history, farmers, entrepreneurs or shop owners could live their entire lives without getting any assistance from the federal government except maybe mail. But those days are long gone. In 2012 the total number of Americans on government assistance or welfare reached 4,3000,000. Many of which are 4th or 5th generation Welfare recipients. For whatever the reason, we have become a culture of dependency in which poverty is a trap. Long-term recipients loose job skills, work habits as well as work contacts. For this reason the government should require recipients to work as much as they can. It could be called “workfare” and could help recipients increase potential long-term earnings.

The Cambridge Dictionary of Sociology defines inequality as ‘the unequal distribution of opportunities, rewards, and power among and between individuals, households and groups’(1). It goes on to say that ‘the subfield of social stratification has as its main task the description and analysis of inequalities, or the makeup of the stratification system of any given society’.(1) From this one definition, we can already begin to see the strong links that lie between inequalities and social stratification. As we delve deeper into the topics, we can begin to see both the inevitability and the functionality of stratification

Joe Hocking defends this significant rise with the fact that our life expectancy has increased as opposed to when the pension was implemented 100 years ago and that our current economy can no longer support the increasing expenditure of the age pension. Even with this cost benefit to our economy, (Chomik, 2014) points out definite inequalities that would develop from this. For example older people within the workforce are already often discriminated against when seeking employment as they can be seen as a negative long term investment in terms of training. Joe Hocking’s argument on the rise of life expectancy seems ill supported when considering the fact the financially poor individuals have shown to have a lower life expectancy in comparison to the rich, thus resulting the inequality of the poor being able to enjoy less years of their retirement.

In accordance with the International Encyclopedia of Marriage and Family (2003) “intergenerational relations refer to the ties between individuals or groups of different ages” (para. 1). As young adults begin to achieve the milestones associated with adulthood including marriage, cohabitation, independent living, regular employment and parenthood, relationships with older generations, being parents, grandparents and great-grandparents, tend to strengthen (Roberts, Richards and Bengtson, 1991) and become increasingly important (Cheal, 2002, p. 50), as an awareness of the strengths and weaknesses possessed by these older family members develops into a mutual respect. “These intergenerational relationships are characterised by respect, responsibility,

Plagued by a persistent barrage, an influx of incoming baby boomers who have sparingly parceled out a portion of their hard-earned fortunes year by year to support their preceding generation, so that their elders may continue to live free, prosperous lives as these elders had ensured for the generation before theirs, the United States Social Security program has acted as a self-financing aid to the nation’s retiring populations since its inception in 1935 as part of a plan to revitalize our nation under the New Deal- a program run by America’s incumbent workforce. Indeed, through stabbing Social Security tax increases, and the uncertainty of The Great Recession in 2008, it was finally their turn to receive the benefits they had paid into for so long; America’s largest

The role of intergenerational patterns is often used when referring to negative behaviors that are profoundly repeated throughout different generation (Birkenmaier, Berg-Weger & Dewees, 2014). Papero (2009) on the other hand, specifically linked the term intergenerational to relationship patterns that are being transmitted from one generation to another. To bring to light the immersion of intergenerational patterns, a brief understanding of Bowen’s Family Systems Theory is imperative. Bowen’s theory comprises of eight concepts and a major variable known as anxiety (Papero, 2014). All seven concepts address the family system while the eighth focus mainly on the social function of the society (Papero, 2014). In fact, one of the eighth concepts in Bowen theory is multigenerational transmission process playing an important role with intergenerational patterns. While conducting a systematic analysis of three generations within Lani family system, specific behaviors that were demonstrated were dysfunctional boundaries, marital outcomes, anxiety and transmission of parenting style.

Since the beginning of the 2007, Americans have worried about their individual finances, especially when it comes to future financial security. With the recent recession crippling most Americans ideas of retirement, a proposal has been presented with hopes of lessening the burden to senior citizens when it comes to retirement.1 The proposition that NIFI.org advances is increasing the Social Security Income Tax on households, asking for a raise from the current 6.2% to a future 7.2%. NIFI.org contends that this tax will enable funding for Social Security to remain unhindered for the next twenty years, which would give policy makers further time to make additional changes to the program. This paper will present a counter argument to the

Everyone remembers fighting with their parents at some point in their life, whether as a young child who wants a toy or as a teenager who isn’t allowed to go out. It’s normal to want to challenge authority when growing up, because it helps young people to make their own decisions and become individuals. Teenagers rely on few close friends and the last people expected to be confidants are their parents.

The Social Security System is in need of a new reform; our current system was not designed for the age stratification we have at this time. The U.S. Social Security Administration Office of Policy states, “The original Social Security Act, signed into law on August 14, 1935, grew out of the work of the Committee on Economic Security, a cabinet-level group appointed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt just one year earlier. The Act created several programs that, even today, form the basis for the government's role in providing income security, specifically, the old-age insurance, unemployment insurance, and Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) programs.” Social Security was modeled to aid the elderly citizens, however during the

With the workforce in America decreasing due to hard economic times, there is no guarantee the money put into the reserve will sufficiently support a generation when it is time for retirement. Depending on Social Security to support a person financially when ready to retire, will leave that individual in even more of a struggle than the beneficiaries trying to survive in these earlier years of the 21 century. Social Security benefits represent about 41% of the income of the elderly; if there is not enough to support even half of the elderly’s financial needs now, there is no reason a younger person should depend on it alone for retirement (Dewitt, 2010) in the future.

SUMMARY OF THE ARTICLE “UNDERSTANDING AND MANAGING GENERATIONAL DIFFERENCES IN THE WORK PLACE” ( Cited from Kapoor and Solomon 2011)

How many times have you felt that your parents don't understand you, that they have no respect for you as an individual? How often do you shake your head in frustration and blame it on the 'generation gap'? Parents! They are like aliens from another planet altogether! You and they are in different camps; strangers forced to live under the same roof Right? Wrong! There is a way of bridging what appears to be a yawning chasm. If you genuinely want to improve your relationship with your parents (and give them a big shock in the bargain!) try listening to them, treating them just like you would listen to a valued friend. Instead of always whining, 'You don't understand me", stop and think. Do we ever try and understand