Life Course Perspective Theory

The events that occur throughout the span of a person's life influence their process of aging. Cumulative disadvantages, finances, and filial responsibility all highlight the life course perspective theory. These concepts are demonstrated in the interview by Barbara Thomas, a 70-year-old retiree. Barbara uses personal anecdotes to account for her experiences throughout her life. In this interview a recurring theme is how her socioeconomic status during her childhood prompted her to make financial and educational decisions that still benefit her today. Consequently, Barbara discusses her aging process in terms of successive stages, rather than a linear progression.
In her interview, Barbara discusses her experiences with aging and how it relates
to her outlook on life. When asked about her feelings towards her process she responded “indifferent”. This attitude could be due to the perks that come with being a senior citizen such as, the many senior discounts that Barbara mentioned or it could be due to the disadvantages such as ageism that she recounted during her interview. When I asked Barbara if she ever experienced ageism which is, prejudices or negative stereotypes about people based on chronological age, she replied, “Yes, more in my older years. People assume when you are in your older years that you deteriorate and can't do much, but in my opinion, it depends on your health. I’m Seventy but I feel Forty. I don’t feel old and decrepit “(refer to Appendix Part B). Even though Barbara mentions that she feels younger than her age, her response indicates that she is aware of the negative connotations associated with becoming older.
Cumulative disadvantages are the tendency of negative life events to have an enduring and multiplying impact throughout a person’s life.
These disadvantages involve the effects of gender, race, and economic status on aging. In Barbara’s interview, I asked “do you think that growing up as an African-American in a lower-income environment has had an effect on your aging process? If so how? To this Barbara replied, “Definitely, 101%. The food we ate, the crabs in the barrel mentality. Growing up in poverty as a black female affects your self-esteem.We weren't encouraged and there wasn't any money for kids from the projects. Even my siblings tried to deter my dream. My mother was the only one who supported me the whole way”(refer to Appendix Part D). This quote is an example of how socioeconomic status can play a major role in a person's upbringing. In this quote, Barbara seems most affected by the people in her environment. She mentions her family members deterring her from her dreams and how her mother was the only person to support her going back to school to receive a college degree. After twenty years of success, the negative aspects of her life still resonate strongly. Furthermore, Barbara being both African-American and living in an impoverished environment as a child represents the double jeopardy theory. Contrary to Barbara’s narrated experience, research has shown that as minorities age they face a decline in status (Dowd and Bengston 1). Her ability to overcome
these obstacles acts as a contributing factor to success in her later years. Financial issues greatly plague the geriatric population, causing poverty among older individuals to remain a major concern.
It is important to point out that Barbara has used her experiences throughout her life in order to avoid the phenomenon of older women being more affected by poverty than any other geriatrics community. Barbara was born in 1947, classifying her as a Baby Boomer. This time period was marked by the return of soldiers from World War two and along with their return came a market boom due to an increase in product demands. In addition, houses and education were granted to soldiers. This mainly benefitted the white families that had the opportunities to move out of the cities into the suburbs. Seeing this disparity prompted Barbara to strive for the same economic status of her white counterparts. Barbara accounts for this difference in her own recollection of what it was like to grow up during the Baby Boomer era. Nonetheless, Barbara attributes her financial success to the time period in which she grew up. When asked if the life cycle model of savings, which predicts that as Baby Boomers reach later life, they will begin to put more money into savings when retirement looms on the horizon, applied to her and she responded yes. Barbara states, “It does apply to me. I did have two houses at one time. I think growing up with less makes you more conscious of how to save. We were aware of pension, CDs and we tended to stay in the same job in hopes of retiring
and receiving social security and a pension”(refer to Appendix Part C). In this statement, she mentions that her family didn’t experience economic prosperity when she was younger, but she notes that the atmosphere during that time period, prompted many people to seek employment with the hopes of one day retiring and obtaining greater wealth. In addition to finances, Barbara discusses her opinions on Medicare and social security. As a benefactor of both programs, Barbara is not extremely critical of either system, but she does recognize that both Medicare and social security can be improved. In regards to Medicare, Barbara touches on the subject of Medigap. In the latter part of the interview, she states, “I think it’s a good program but everything cost you something. If it wasn't for my insurance I would have to pay a lot more”( refer to Appendix Part C). She then proceeds to go into an anecdote about how she had to pay $300 out of pocket for an $8,000 endoscopy. In this portion of the interview, she notes that Medicare helps to relieve most of her medical burdens, but if she did not have insurance she would have to pay even more money than she does now. Moreover, Barbara suggests that she doesn’t believe that Medicare is being distributed evenly among elderly recipients. This idea hints at the concept of generational equity in which controversies over the rationing of healthcare resources arise (Moody and Sasser 327). In regards to the aspect of social security, Barbara was very vague in her answer about whether or not she believed that the program is beneficial. She summed up her response by saying that social security is good, but anything at that federal level has room for improvement.
Filial responsibility is the idea that elderly parents are taken care of by their adult children. Barbara, a mother of one, veers towards the principles of filial support. When asked about her thoughts on the concept she replied, “I don’t want to make anyone feel forced to take care of me. In other cultures, younger people reverence their elders but here in America it’s a mixed bag” (refer to Appendix Part D). I found it interesting that she didn’t want to put a lot of responsibility on her child but at the same time she makes it a point to reference the respect that children in other countries, like China, have for their parents. Additionally, when asked how she felt about the concept of intimacy at distance, she stated that she would like to be closer to her family but being an hour away from her daughter and grandchildren is manageable. Her willingness to accept the distance of her family symbolizes the growing trend of the nuclear family.
In conclusion, Despite the cumulative disadvantages that Barbara has faced, she has managed to become successful in her older age. This is largely attributed to her experience of being a Baby Boomer. In addition to cumulative disadvantages, Barbara also references finances as a major factor affecting her geriatrics years. Medical cost acts as an additional burden, but the assistance of medicare and insurance help to alleviate the financial strain. Lastly, she refers to filial responsibilities in which she discusses her desire to be more actively involved with her family, but understands that the model of the nuclear family is a growing trend in today’s society.