The Round Table Video Analysis

1.) What difficulties—from retiring baby boomers in the United States to a graying China, to the massive overhang of Europe’s elderly—can private corporations, governments, and other sectors expect as the aging revolution unfolds across the globe? How will changing demographics affect workforce composition? Retirement age? Pension outlays? Taxation? Immigration? Economic growth? How can governments, corporations, and nongovernmental organizations work together to address these issues?

Many employers view the old employers especially the baby boomers as too rigid, failing health, lack of enthusiasm, afraid of new technologies, do not want to learn new training (stuck in old ways), and expensive to keep. Many aged people are viewing job advertisements with pictures of younger employees. In addition, the aged are facing high cost of medical insurance and healthcare. With the obstacles in the job market, the aged could possibly experience social isolationism, low self-esteem, and financial hardship.

Sander does a great job of getting sources that are credible and informative. She has a variety of sources who, when put together, create a great picture of what is happening with these boomer students. She utilizes real people that are going back to school who give great personal experiences to give the reader a more in-depth look at the situation that these students are in. These personal experiences are accompanied by Jan Abushakrah, a sociology professor at Portland Community College; Susan Porter Robinson, vice president for lifelong learning at the American Council on Education; George Boggs, president of the American Association of Community Colleges; and Bernie Ronan, acting president of Mesa Community College. These perspectives give the reader a big picture look at the situation. For an even bigger picture of the situation, in numbers, Sander cites the Bureau of Labor Statistics to explain how many adults 55 and older will still be in the workplace. She also brings up a survey conducted by the MetLife Foundation and Civic Ventures who surveyed baby-boomers to determine how long they planned on continuing work. Sander gives the reader good information while assuring the reader that

With the age discrimination it made it hard for the elders to get a job. This meant that there were no options for them. That’s why when Dr. Francis E. Townsend advocated that all Americans over the age of 60 should retire and get a pension he gained national support.

As people get older, life can get more complicated. When one ages, one is more prone to more negative experiences such as death of loved ones or an incident that is life changing. According to this article written by Jane E. Brody, such experiences can effect one’s ability to work the same job they have been working for 30 plus years (2016). However, many as a society hold the assumption that older adults lack the ability to recreate their vocational experience and instead should “settle down” and retire. Realistically, however, many older adults are not economically stable to retire. Jane E. Brody argues that changing your career to something that is fulfilling to an aging adult can not only be possible, but highly satisfying and beneficial.

Age discrimination has long been present in society due to the rapid development happening around us. According to Farney, Aday & Breault (2006), this era of ageism is defined as "discrimination against any age group", but it often is pointed to age discrimination among adults which is slowly causing a negative effect for them in the workplace. In the workplace, adults with more experience and longer history behind them are targets of this ageism belief that companies and employers tend to have (Farney, Aday, & Breault, 2006). They are shunned and even fired in favor of accepting new and fresh faces for the company they have worked for. Unknown to most companies and employers, this notion of favoring the young and banishing the old can

While the “Greatest Generation” is a title often given to those Americans who lived and died during the era of the Great Depression and World War II, their offspring, the “Baby Boom” generation, significantly shaped and improved the American landscape as well if for no greater reason than the sheer number of people who make up this population (Steinhorn, 2006). Today, based predominantly on that very same reason, the baby boomer population is now making a very different, yet equally as profound impact on American society. More

It was exciting and informative hearing about Bill, Harold, and Rose transition from the workforce into retirement. All three participants, stated that when they were growing up no one ever considered themselves retired or not part of the workforce. If you were unable to work anymore, then you assisted your family in other ways. For example, if you were physically unfit to work you could still be needed around for meal preparation, gardening, sewing, or other daily activities; which is why in Harold’s mind he’s not truly retired. Yes, he retired from his career, but he still saunters around his farm mowing, working in the garage, cooking, and fixing machinery; however, both Bill and Rose consider themselves fully retired and they wouldn’t want it any other way. It’s interesting to look at the progression of those entering the workforce to fill those positions left behind by those who retired.

Allen, S. G., Clark, R. L., & Ghent, L. S. (2004). Phasing into retirement. The Industrial & Labor Relations Review, 58(1), 112-127. Gelfand, D.E., & Bechill, W. (1991, Summer-Fall). The evolution of the older Americans act: a 25-year review of the legislative changes. Generations, 15(3), 19-22. Zastrow, C. H., & Kirst-Ashman, K. K. (2010). Understanding Human Behavior and the Social Environment (8th ed.). Mason , Ohio: Brooks Cole/Cengage.

In conclusion, ageism in today’s times is a real form of discrimination and needs to be fixed. An individual’s skills and capabilities should be based on a personal level, not their age. The elderly and the young need just as much job opportunities as the middle-aged individuals living in the

There has always been some “ism” that social movements have fought against throughout America’s history, and the issue of “ageism” was finally addressed in The Age Discrimination in Employment Act. Ageism can be defined as prejudiced beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors pertaining to older adults. To understand the ADEA fully, a brief history of age discrimination is useful to comprehend the Structural Level of this bill. Discrimination based on age was not a large issue until the beginning of the 20th century, mainly because it was a tacit form of discrimination. For the most part, people worked until they were at an age where they did not feel useful, and for the rest of their lives their families would take care of them. Industrialization

This is a society of isms, racism, sexism, and ageism. It labels, stereotypes, and categorizes people, by shape, size, color, and age. The elderly in their later years should be able to have a peaceable life, treated with dignity and respect. However, pretty much anyone under the age of 50 is a target for an attack of an attitude of ageism at some point. Those who do the disrespecting don’t stop to consider that at some point, they will also be at the receiving end of that attitude.” (Webb)

“Sketchy evidence that older workers experience discrimination because of their age is easy to find. The popular press includes many stories of individual employees who have been replaced by younger workers, sometimes just before they become eligible for lucrative retirement benefits. Older workers (in the past) were forced by mandatory

Knowing and having an understanding of what ageing stands for, remains an important step, growing-up or growing older and ageism are theories about older individuals. Ageism includes preconceptions that elderly are categorized for their age and perceived as weak, and incapable of performing tasks and needy of others (Quadagno, 2014). Another view about elderly individuals is the way they are looked down on by the younger society, i.e. elderly are not as intelligent as their younger competitive working force. People fear what they do not know and do not understand. Age transpires as something that must be lived through in order to understand what ageing means; looking back on one’s life and seeing accomplishments made,

Elderly people are often stereotyped as forgetful, weak, or unable to take care of themselves; keeping this in mind, how can you logically hire an elderly person to do a job that a young, more physically fit employee could undoubtedly perform with less risk and effort. Stereotypes such as these are playing a huge role in the controversy over mandatory retirement. Morgan