Ethnic Minority, Social Economic Status and Health In Relation To Aging

Ethnic Minority, Social Economic Status and Health In Relation To Aging

Introduction

Every older adult deserves a good later life, not a conditional one where the comfort of one’s later years is determined by the amount of money in one’s bank account, gender, race or sexuality. However, in the current state of society, older adults have a difficult later life as a result of inequalities from different angles. America comprises of different ethnic groups who live in the United States for different reasons. There special groups composed of minor ethnic groups who are unequally represented by the state. These people end up having low social, economic status, and as they age, their situation worsens due to a decrease in productivity. This paper will discuss the inequalities experienced by the older adults as a result of their ethnic group, social, economic status and health and how these inequalities affect their health physically, psychologically and mentally.

Literature review

Inequality in the United States is not something new. The nation has been fighting inequality since the 1970s. Inequalities in the United States manifest itself from different categories. For example, income, gender, sexual orientation, religion, age and race. These inequalities do not come to an end in the later life of older American citizen; they however worsen and impact more during later life.

According to statistics, the number of older adults aged above 65 years old was 52 million. However, this number is expected to double by the year 2060 (PRB, 2019). As the number of older adults increases, this special group is becoming more racially and ethnically diverse. Studies have projected that by the year 2060, the percentage of the older non-Hispanic white is projected to drop from 77 per cent to 55 per cent (PRB, 2019). These statistics show how the population of older adults is rapidly increasing.

The five major ethnic groups found in the United States are African Americans, Asians, Europeans/Caucasians, Latinos/Hispanic, and Native Americans. From the 2000 census in America, the population had 29.8 million Caucasians, 2.7 million African Americans, 1.5 million Hispanics, 615,000 Asian Pacifica islanders and 137,000 native Americans/Eskimos. From these statistics, it is clear that there are different ethnical groups in the U.S.

Ethnic inequalities among the older adults in the United States have been linked to the social class and economic status of an individual. Studies have revealed that ethnic inequalities have resulted to high rate of unemployment among the Black and minority groups in the United States is higher when compared to the white population (Evandrou, Falkingham, Feng & Vlachantoni, 2016). It is also evident that also within the same social class, the black and minority group has a lower income when compared to their white counterparts (Evandrou, Falkingham, Feng & Vlachantoni, 2016). This ethnical group is also reported to lack access to information and have poor knowledge about government and social services, making them more disadvantaged and unequal to the white population.

These ethnical inequalities extend to later life and to some point life become unbearable to the older adults. Despite the fact that the older adults population is increasing rapidly not enough research has been done to aid in bettering the delivery of services such as healthcare to them (Evandrou, Falkingham, Feng & Vlachantoni, 2016). The black and minority ethnic group tend to have a poorer live as they age due to ethnic inequalities in their earlier lives.  This has led them to live their afterlife in poor housing and lack proper medical care. The ethnical inequality in the United States has resulted in a reduced life expectancy for the black and minority ethnic group (BME). Data has proved that middle-class white Americans live ten years longer than the middle-class black American and the poor white Americans live three years more than the poor black Americans (Evandrou, Falkingham, Feng & Vlachantoni, 2016).

Social, economic status is another inequality that is affecting the older adults in the United States in a bad way. Social, economic status is also linked to gender. According to research, women are more likely to face challenges in saving for their retirement. In terms of income, women are more likely to be paid less when compared to men. This also, in turn, affects the percentage of income that a female worker in the United States can save for retirement. Inequalities in income based on gender are more evident in casual workers.

Social, economic inequalities can be split into two. Social inequalities and economic inequalities, Social inequalities are inequalities in areas such as voting, freedom of speech, access to education and healthcare (Lincoln, 2019). The most common social inequality affecting the older adults in the United States is access to healthcare, especially among the black and minority ethnic group. Most of the people from the BME have worked casual works for the better part of their lives, and some do not have pensions and retirement packages to help them access quality healthcare. This type of inequality is mostly caused by a lack of wealth.

Economic inequality, on the other hand, manifests through the unequal distribution of income and wealth. Economic inequality among older adults is an extension of economic inequalities experienced from birth (Lincoln, 2019). These inequalities from birth include barriers to access wealth, education, wages and workplace benefits. The results of these barriers are lack of financial security in later life and a low social, economic status. Social inequality is closely linked to economic inequality. Social inequalities result in segregations, such as residential and race segregations (Lincoln, 2019). These grouping and isolation lead to unequal distribution of government resources and infrastructure leaving the poor in bad conditions.

Inequality in healthcare among older adults adversely affects the later lives of older people. Older adults are exposed to high health risks, but they lack access to quality healthcare. From a survey done in 2010, it was found that 63% of the older adults aged 65 years and above were unable to access healthcare when the need arose. The main reason these elderly people could not access healthcare services when they needed to was lack of funds. Most old adults live by pensions, family support or assets and some often work low paying jobs. Another barrier to healthcare among the old is an age-related stigma. Stigma may prevent an older adult from accessing healthcare services, and it may also affect the quality of the healthcare services being offered by the facility.

Related stressors and other consequences

All the inequalities mentioned in this paper lead to poorer financial status. Most aged people are less mobile, and they spend most of their day either seated or sleeping because they don’t have the power to be productive. Inequalities and discriminations are the key reasons why most old age people spend most of their time indoors. This immobility has an adverse effect on the physiological wellbeing of older adults. When one is immobile for a long time, his or her health deteriorates, the immune system becomes weaker, and the individual becomes prone to attack by diseases.

Inequality stressors also affect individual psychological and mental health. Inequality is a form of unfair treatment. This unfair treatment may result to stress among the old adults in the community (Thurston, 2017). Normal stress develops to chronic stress resulting in the development of stress-related illnesses such as anxiety and depression. The old adults are a vulnerable group and therefore exposure to anxiety and depression for a long period of time may lead to developing of other chronic diseases, heart diseases and hypertension (Thurston, 2017). Taking into consideration that this special group is economically disadvantaged when attacked by such diseases, it becomes a more severe problem. Some older adults in the United States end up developing mental illnesses due to isolation. Older adults do not isolate themselves because they want to but because society discriminates them and treats them unequally fair.

Interventions

The inequalities among the older adults can be socially reduced or brought to an end if possible. The first social intervention that can be used to reduce the inequalities among the old is public education. The public should be educated on the benefits of providing care to the elderly in the society (Rao, Chandra & Jennings, 2010). The public should be made to understand that neglecting the old adults will only increase the burden on them in the near future. The education can be provided through various communities, meeting or even through the media.

The other behavioural intervention that can be used to reduce the effect of inequalities among the old adults is by coming up with programs to keep the older adults of the society busy and social (Rao, Chandra & Jennings, 2010). By keeping them busy and social, risks of developing diseases and psychological illnesses are reduced. Keeping them busy also makes them feel taken care of, and it also reduces stress.

Conclusion,

Ageing is a natural process that cannot be avoided. For long, the old adults have been suffering discrimination based on their age, gender, sexual orientation, religion and social, economic status. This inequality has led to the deterioration of their physical and mental health. The fact that these older adults cannot work has led to the exaggeration of the effects of inequalities. There are however interventions that can be used to reduce the effects of inequalities facing the old adults, for example, public education on the benefits of taking care of the older adults and designing special programs for the old to keep them busy.

References

Lincoln, K. (2019). Economic Inequality in Later Life | American Society on Aging. Retrieved 8 December 2019, from https://www.asaging.org/blog/economic-inequality-later-life

Evandro, M., Falkingham, J., Feng, Z., & Vlachantoni, A. (2016). Ethnic inequalities in limiting health and self-reported health in later life revisited. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 70(7), 653-662. Doi: 10.1136/jech-2015-206074

PRB. (2019). Racial and Socioeconomic Disparities in Old-Age Disability in the U.S. – Population Reference Bureau. Retrieved 6 December 2019, from https://www.prb.org/oldagedisability/

PRB. (2019). Fact Sheet: Aging in the United States – Population Reference Bureau. Retrieved 8 December 2019, from https://www.prb.org/aging-unitedstates-fact-sheet/

Thurston, R. (2017). Psychological health and disease in later life. Maturitas, 100, 107. doi: 10.1016/j.maturitas.2017.03.052

Rao, J., Chandra, J., & Jennings, P. (2010). Ethnicity, health and health inequalities. Ethnicity And Inequalities In Health And Social Care, 3(2), 3-5. doi: 10.5042/eihsc.2010.033