Elderly in American and Vietnamese Culture
According to the New York Times research conducted in 2012, population of older Americans is growing faster than ever. However, there is no doubt that these American senior citizens are facing some issues as one angry American blogger has stated: “Remember what culture you 're in! Our society doesn 't value older, wiser, or more experienced people”. That statement may sound a little dramatic but is it true that American elderly is not well treated? In this paper, I aim to discuss about the American and Vietnamese society’s treatment of elderly. Moreover, I also suggest some explanations for the differences between the ways two cultures treat its old people.
First of all, the strength of the America is: living condition. The developed economy and technology have brought many benefits to the elderly. Old American people live quite comfortably; they don’t have to worry much about their living condition. The median net worth of households headed by elderly is $280.000 in compare to the $126,400 of average American family net worth. According to the survey conducted in 2009, nine-in-ten elderly have their own home or apartment. In another survey, 42.3 million of 42.3 million Americans age 65 and older say that it 's easy for them to cover their monthly living expenses. It’s clear that old Americans are able to support themselves without depending on anyone. However, even if they cannot take care of themselves, the old American people don’t have to worry because, in sense of health service or nursing houses, the American society and government seriously take good care of their senior citizens. There are more than 16,000 nursing houses for old people all over America, many of these houses has reached the 5-stars standard. The United States is famous for spending more on health care for seniors more than any other developed country on the world (America’s seniors, 2012). Moreover, beside health care, tons of money is also being invested in medical researches (95 billion
First of all, the strength of the America is: living condition. The developed economy and technology have brought many benefits to the elderly. Old American people live quite comfortably; they don’t have to worry much about their living condition. The median net worth of households headed by elderly is $280.000 in compare to the $126,400 of average American family net worth. According to the survey conducted in 2009, nine-in-ten elderly have their own home or apartment. In another survey, 42.3 million of 42.3 million Americans age 65 and older say that it 's easy for them to cover their monthly living expenses. It’s clear that old Americans are able to support themselves without depending on anyone. However, even if they cannot take care of themselves, the old American people don’t have to worry because, in sense of health service or nursing houses, the American society and government seriously take good care of their senior citizens. There are more than 16,000 nursing houses for old people all over America, many of these houses has reached the 5-stars standard. The United States is famous for spending more on health care for seniors more than any other developed country on the world (America’s seniors, 2012). Moreover, beside health care, tons of money is also being invested in medical researches (95 billion
Cited: Paul Taylor. Growing Old in America: Expectations vs. Reality. Pew Research Center, 2012. Web. 27 Oct, 2012. America’s Seniors and Health Insurance Reform: Protecting Coverage and Strengthening Medicare. Health reform. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, 2012. Web. 27 Oct, 2012. Haya El Nasser. Life 's just good for most older Americans. USA today. Gannett, 2012. Web. 28 Oct, 2012. Hoàng Phan. Đời sống vật chất của người cao tuổi Việt Nam còn gặp nhiều khó khăn. Pháp luật newspaper. Ministry of Justice 's portal, 2011. Web. 28 Oct, 2012. Tom Plate. The Age of Insecurity: The Elderly in Asia versus America. Asian Media. University of California, 2004. Web. 28 Oct, 2012 Hà Thư. Chăm sóc và phát huy người cao tuổi: Cơ hội và thời khắc lịch sử. Gia đình và Xã hội newspaper. General office for population family planning, 2012. Web. 27 Oct, 2012. Judy Lin. Honor or abandon: Societies ' treatment of elderly intrigues scholar. UCLA today. University of California, 2012. Web. 28 Oct, 2012. Gretchen Anderso. Loneliness Among Older Adults: A National Survey of Adults 45+. Aarp. Aarp, 2010. Web. 28 Oct, 2012. Huynh Dinh Te. Social relationships. Vietspring. Vietspring, 2008. PDF. 28 Oct, 2012. John W. Rowe and Robert L. Kahn. Successful Aging. Oxford University Press. The Gerontological Society of America, 1999. Web. 28 Oct, 2012.