4. Stereotypes and Realities About Older People

About this Lecture

Lecture

In this lecture, we think about some stereotypes and realities about older people and their place in society, focusing in particular on: (i) the stereotype that they enjoy prosperous lives at the expense of more deprived younger generations; (ii) the stereotype that they are a burden on younger taxpayers and do not contribute to the economy; (iii) challenging the first by noting that many older people are relatively poor, with around 16% living in poverty, and that the wealthier amongst them often offer financial assistance to younger relatives; (iv) challenging the second stereotype by considering the large number of older people who contribute paid employment and voluntary work.

Course

In this course, Professor Pat Thane (Birkbeck, University of London) explores population ageing, its causes and impacts, policies related to it, and the place of older people in society. In the first lecture, we look at the historical process of population ageing and the first policies around old age in the early 1900s. In the second lecture, we think about the welfare state and its effects on older people’s lives, in terms of state pensions, the National Health Service, and social care. In the third lecture, we survey policies related to population ageing from the 1970s to the present. Next, we review some stereotypes and realities about older people. In the fifth and final lecture, we look at ageist discrimination in employment and healthcare, and the ways in which older people have protested this.

Lecturer

Professor Pat Thane is Visiting Professor in History at Birkbeck, University of London. She researches twentieth century British history, with a focus on social policy. Her recent publications include Divided Kingdom: A History of Britain, 1900 to the Present (2018), Sinners? Scroungers? Saints? Unmarried Motherhood in Twentieth Century England (2012) (with Tanya Evans) and Happy Families? History and Family Policy (2011).