3. Steps towards
a Society for all ages
- Families: who cares?
- Neighbourhoods and communities of interest: trends
- "Multi-generational citizenship": expanding awareness
- The macro societal response: 'mainstreaming' aging
Individual lives are influenced by their environments including the inter-related milieu of family, neighbourhood, communities of interest, the market and the State. All of these are changing and interacting in new ways under the impact of globalization, technological change, cultural evolution -- and demographic revolution. To assist an age-related examination of these institutions during 1999, some reflections are outlined below.
Families: who cares?
Families are microcosms of many interacting systems, as highlighted during the International Year of the Family, 1994. Its caregiving role is examined here.
As a primary caregiving system in many societies, it is the first resource and last resort for individuals throughout the lifecourse. The launch pad for early life and the landing pad of late life.
With demographic ageing, care recipients are changing: there are fewer children needing care and more of the very old. With women's increasing participation in the paid workforce, caregiving patterns are changing, with more men participating in direct and instrumental caregiving roles. Yet, in most places, family care remains a euphemism for a single usually female caregiver. In an ageing world, the double task of caregiving for old and young usually falls to the "sandwich generation", those ranging in age from 40 to 70. Though intensive elder caregiving needs are generally confined to the last few years of life, these can be burdensome, stretching over 24 hours a day and 365 days a year. In contrast with child care, which is characterized by progress towards independence, elder care usually intensifies over time.
For debate: As families age, family care needs to be increasingly provided by a network of family members and to be supported by organized formal care. Family networks have unique resources -- proximity, affection, lifelong commitment and intense knowledge of the older person. Formal care has the vital resources of expertise and money. Family and formal care is often mediated by community care combining health and social services. Family friendly work places are needed that provide opportunities for family leave, homeworking, job-sharing, as well as respite care and day-care facilities for dependent family members.
Neighbourhoods and communities of interest: trends.
In many parts of the world, neighbours function as an important extension of families. Some neighbourhoods are ageing rapidly. Many cities of the developed world and rural areas of the developing world have already a quarter or a third of their population over age 60. Urban design is increasingly age-segregated, as age-group institutions are established including kindergartens, schools, workplaces, and elder residences. Apartment dwellings are frequently too small for multi-generational co-habitation. In follow-up to Habitat II, barrier-free universal design is being promoted worldwide, but has yet to take effect on the ground.
The out-migration of youth from rural areas is creating an imbalance of age-groups in rural areas. Rural development strategies which include multi-generational cooperatives and enterprises could help stem the rural exodus and restore a better age-balance to rural areas.
Another kind of age-differentiation occurs with the rise of communities of interest. Transcending locality, such communities are defined by common intellectual, social, economic and psychological interest for example: organizations of youth, women, labour and others. In recent years, associations of retired and older persons have increased in number across the world -- an effect not only of population ageing but also a response to age-discrimination and exclusion. While generating a sense of solidarity among older persons, these associations also support community development, environmental protection, violence-free cities and global peace through direct actions as well as through partnerships with youth and other organizations. The rise of organizations of elders and others, while strengthening peer-identities, also gives rise to a need for new channels of communications between the age groups.
For debate: Many rural and urban neighbourhoods are tending to become more age-segregated because of migration and age-segregated urban design. Modernization is giving rise to different age-group institutions. These trends calls for measures that would restore the easy interactions and collaborations of the generations.
"Multi-generational citizenship": expanding awareness
Beyond neighbourhood and community lies the concept of "multigenerational citizenship", involving an awareness of being a recipient of heritages from earlier generations as one participates in creating legacies for succeeding generations, in terms of economic, social, and environmental capital. A culture infused with a sense of multi-generational citizenship would harmonize tradition and innovation, and imbue its present undertakings with a broader sense of historical time. Successful follow-up to the Rio conference on environment and development depends in large part on fostering a sense of multi-generational citizenship.
Multi-generational citizenship, while calling for an expanded awareness that considers the needs of present, past and future generations, would also encompass the needs and aspirations of all citizens many which have tended to be marginalized including refugees, indigenous persons, persons with disabilities, migrants and others.
For debate: Multi-generational citizenship encourages expansive levels of awareness, which could be fostered by: (a) Honouring ancestors as well as descendants when making decisions, as has been the custom among many indigenous and other groups worldwide, while also (b) Reflecting in debate, plans and programmes the varied needs and aspirations of all citizens supporting thereby the establishment of a society for all. In pursuit of expansive and inclusive levels of awareness, there may be contradictions and tensions to negotiate.
The macro societal response: 'mainstreaming' ageing
As the demographic contours of societies, families and individuals change, so must the production, consumption, savings and investments patterns. Economic, health and education strategies need adjustment. The living environment needs modification.
The ageing of individuals calls for a developmental perspective encompassing interventions beginning at early age to promote self-reliance over the entire lifespan. As these interventions are improved and refined, they could cumulatively help to expand the capabilities and resourcefulness of each successive birth-cohort, enabling each cohort to arrive at the high age with ever-improved health status, work and life skills. As well, since ageing affects social institutions including families, neighbourhoods and workforces, among others, measures are needed to ensure that they remain viable and age-integrated.
In some age-advanced societies, a negative debate has grown up around ageing, as some media write about incipient "age wars", citing age-based competition over resources (particularly for health care and income security). As populations age, some shift of resources in favour of an expanding population group is necessary. This shift can be made in several ways that would not burden the working population, favour one age-group over another, or add to the national debt. Such adjustments may include, in addition to investing in individual lifelong development (as outlined above), increasing productivity so as to increase resources, expanding as feasible the female and immigrant workforce so as to balance the old age dependency ratio; and making economies as possible including, for example, in military spending.
For debate: Responses to individual and population ageing have evolved piecemeal. A new comprehensive, integrated yet flexible approach is required in order to explore the developmental opportunities of ageing, as these combine with the technological and cultural transitions of our time. Features of this comprehensive mix to consider may include:
- Continuing to 'mainstream' questions of ageing into the major international programmes for socio-economic development launched during the 1980s and 1990s.
- Adjusting production, consumption, savings, and investments in keeping with demographic change.
- Coordinating four methods of attaining income security: individual savings, occupational pensions, social security and self-help. Self-help, for example, can encompass part-time work and access to credit for older persons, as well as family-enterprises and cooperatives that include older members.
- Combining four kinds of health care: preventive, primary, humanistic and heroic. Preventive measures have been the focus of the 1997 World Health Report (WHO). The guiding principles of primary health care were set out at the Alma Ata conference of 1978. Humanistic care is mainly concerned with improving the quality of life of frail elders, and of ensuring the necessary support for caregivers and caregiving systems. Heroic care is concerned with delaying death by fighting deadly diseases through new technologies.
- Integrating four kinds of education into curricula for all life stages: learning to know and to do, and learning to live together and to be.
- Creating a socio-economic environment that fosters accumulation of various kinds of capital throughout the lifecourse including into the high age: economic, environmental, social, human, cultural and spiritual capital.
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