Chapter 17 Blog

Summary: Chapter 17 is about families in later life. It starts out discussing how old our society is. Life expectancy rates have increased incredibly in the past century. Not only do people reach older ages now, but about half of those who are 80 or older still have good mental and physical health. Physical health naturally declines, but things like exercising and having strong social networks can keep you healthy. Many people have negative views about aging because of illnesses like dementia, appearance issues, and stereotypes. Older people are retiring later because of changes that make work more beneficial than retiring. Of those who retire, women generally have less money than men and are more likely to run out of it, whites have the highest median incomes, married couples have more money than singles, and people with high social statuses have longer, healthier lives. Older people usually become grandparents and there are many different ways to do this role. Some grandparents are remote, supportive, are the primary guardians of grandchildren, or act as a day-care. Of course, with old age comes death. Some see death as a good thing and a relief while others are sad and experience grief and mourning. About half of people in healthier marriages experience minimal grief and the widows can move on quickly. Of elderly who need care, often their children help out in a number of ways, but there are a lot of professional caregivers too. New Material: Something new I learned was the statistic in the beginning on page 474 about people's chances of reaching 100. In 1800, about 1 in 20 million people would reach 100, but today chances are 1 in 500. I never thought about how many people didn't actually reach that kind of age in the past. 1 in 20 million blows my mind, and I would also think that more people today reach 100 than 1 in 500. Question: What does the class think about older people choosing to remarry after their spouse dies? What are some reasons that could influence (and how) whether a person should begin to date again and how long they should wait?