Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-dh8gc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-05T04:49:56.291Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Precarity and the assumption of rising insecurity in later life: a critique

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 May 2019

Chris Gilleard*
Affiliation:
Division of Psychiatry, UCL Faculty of Brain Sciences, London, UK
Paul Higgs
Affiliation:
Division of Psychiatry, UCL Faculty of Brain Sciences, London, UK
*
*Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]

Abstract

In recent years, several authors have drawn attention to signs of growing inequalities in the ageing populations of the developed economies. Such formulations have employed the concept of precariousness to suggest that a ‘new’ precarity has emerged in old age. Questioning this position and drawing on data reported over the last two decades on income and health inequalities between and within retired and working-age households, the present paper argues that evidence of this ‘precarity’ is speculative at most and relates more to imagined futures than to empirically observed trends in the present. The ageing of ageing societies – that is the growing agedness of the older population – might imply an increase in precarity or vulnerability at older ages, but this is not a result of changes in the underlying economic and social relations of society. Instead, we would contend that it is the corporeal consequences of living longer. By conflating the various meanings of ‘precarity’ there is a corresponding danger that the very real changes brought about by population ageing will be underplayed, which may be to the detriment of the most vulnerable. The idea of a new precarity in later life may thus not serve the ends to which it is intended.

Type
Forum Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aguiar, M and Bils, M (2015) Has consumption inequality mirrored income inequality? American Economic Review 105, 27252756.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Allison, A (2015) Discounted life: social time in relationless Japan. Boundary 2 42, 129141.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Angleman, SB, Santoni, G, Von Strauss, E and Fratiglioni, L (2015) Temporal trends of functional dependence and survival among older adults from 1991 to 2010 in Sweden: toward a healthier aging. Journals of Gerontology: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences 70A, 746752.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Arcaya, MC, Arcaya, AL and Subramanian, SV (2015) Inequalities in health: definitions, concepts, and theories. Global Health Action 8, 27106.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Arza, C (2017) The expansion of economic protection for older adults in Latin America: key design features of non-contributory pensions. World Institute for Development Economics Research (WIDER), Working Paper 2017/29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ayalon, I and Rothermund, K (2018) Examining the utility of national indicators of relative age disadvantage in Europe. European Journal of Ageing 15, 189197.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Aziz, O, Gemmell, N and Laws, A (2013) The distribution of income and fiscal incidence by age and gender: some evidence from New Zealand. Victoria University of Wellington, Working Papers in Public Finance 10.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Banks, J and Smith, JP (2012) International comparisons in health economics: evidence from aging studies. Annual Review of Economics 4, 5781.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Been, J, Caminada, K, Goudswaard, K and van Vliet, O (2017) Public/private pension mix, income inequality and poverty among the elderly in Europe: an empirical analysis using new and revised OECD Data. Social Policy and Administration 51, 10791100.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Biggs, S (2014) Ageing and the G20 – invited commentary: precarious ageing versus the policy of indifference: international trends and the G20. Australasian Journal on Ageing 33, 226228.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Booth, C (1899) Old Age Pensions and the Aged Poor: A Proposal. London: Macmillan.Google Scholar
Bor, J, Cohen, GH and Galea, S (2017) Population health in an era of rising income inequality: USA, 1980–2015. The Lancet 389, 14751490.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bosworth, B, Burtless, G and Zhang, K (2016) Later Retirement, Inequality in Old Age, and the Growing Gap in Longevity Between Rich and Poor. Economic Studies at Brookings. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution.Google Scholar
Brønnum-Hansen, H, Eriksen, ML, Andersen-Ranberg, K and Jeune, B (2017) Persistent social inequality in life expectancy and disability-free life expectancy: outlook for a differential pension age in Denmark? Scandinavian Journal of Public Health 45, 459462.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brown, RL and Prus, SG (2006) Income inequality over the later-life course: a comparative analysis of seven OECD countries. Annals of Actuarial Science 1, 307317.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Butler, J (2004) Precarious Life: The Powers of Mourning and Violence. London: Verso.Google Scholar
Butler, J (2012) Precarious life, vulnerability, and the ethics of cohabitation. Journal of Speculative Philosophy 26, 134151.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Case, A and Deaton, A (2017) Mortality and Morbidity in the 21st Century (Brookings Papers on Economic Activity). Available at http://www.wikisolver.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Mortality-Morbidity-in-the-21st-Century.pdf.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chatterji, S, Byles, J, Cutler, D, Seeman, T and Verdes, E (2015) Health, functioning, and disability in older adults – present status and future implications. The Lancet 385, 563575.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Colic-Peisker, V, Ong, R and Wood, G (2015) Asset poverty, precarious housing and ontological security in older age: an Australian case study. International Journal of Housing Policy 15, 167186.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Corlett, A, Clarke, S and Tomlinson, D (2017) The Living Standards Audit, 2017. London: The Resolution Foundation. Available at http://www.resolutionfoundation.org/app/uploads/2017/07/The-Living-Standards-Audit-2017-FINAL.pdf.Google Scholar
Crimmins, EM, Zhang, Y and Saito, Y (2016) Trends over 4 decades in disability-free life expectancy in the United States. American Journal of Public Health 106, 12871293.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Crystal, S (1986) Measuring income and inequality among the elderly. The Gerontologist 26, 5659.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Crystal, S and Shea, D (1990) Cumulative advantage, cumulative disadvantage, and inequality among elderly people. The Gerontologist 30, 437443.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Crystal, S, Shea, DG and Reyes, AM (2016) Cumulative advantage, cumulative disadvantage, and evolving patterns of late-life inequality. The Gerontologist 57, 910920.Google Scholar
Dahlberg, L, Andersson, L, McKee, KJ and Lennartsson, C (2015) Predictors of loneliness among older women and men in Sweden: a national longitudinal study. Aging and Mental Health 19, 409417.Google Scholar
Day, D (1952) Poverty and precarity. The Catholic Worker, May, No. 2, p. 6.Google Scholar
Deaton, AS and Paxson, CH (1998) Aging and inequality in income and health. American Economic Review 88, 248253.Google Scholar
Dorling, D, Mitchell, R and Pearce, J (2007) The global impact of income inequality on health by age: an observational study. BMJ 335, 873878.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dykstra, PA (2009) Older adult loneliness: myths and realities. European Journal of Ageing 6, 91100.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Engelman, M, Canudas-Romo, V and Agree, EM (2010) The implications of increased survivorship for mortality variation in aging populations. Population and Development Review 36, 511539.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) (2017) Understanding the Financial Lives of UK Adults: Findings from the FCA's Financial Lives Survey 2017. London: FCA.Google Scholar
Frase, P (2013) The precariat: a class or a condition? New Labor Forum 22, 1114.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fries, JF (1980) Aging, natural death, and the compression of morbidity. New England Journal of Medicine 303, 130135.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fries, JF (1983) The compression of morbidity. Milbank Quarterly 61, 397419.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fries, JF, Bruce, B and Chakravarty, E (2011) Compression of morbidity 1980–2011: a focused review of paradigms and progress. Journal of Aging Research Article ID 2617022011.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gakidou, EE, Murray, CJL and Frenk, J (2000 a) Defining and measuring health inequality: an approach based on the distribution of health expectancy. Bulletin of the World Health Organization 78, 4254.Google ScholarPubMed
Gakidou, E, Murray, CJL and Frenk, J (2000 b) Measuring preferences on health system performance assessment. EIP/GPE World Health Organization, Geneva. Global Programme on Evidence for Health Policy Discussion Paper 20. Available at http://www.who.int/healthinfo/paper20.pdf.Google Scholar
Gilleard, C and Higgs, P (2017) Ageing, corporeality and social divisions in later life. Ageing & Society 37, 16811702.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gillespie, DO, Trotter, MV and Tuljapurkar, SD (2014) Divergence in age patterns of mortality change drives international divergence in lifespan inequality. Demography 51, 10031017.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ginn, J (2013) Austerity and inequality. Exploring the impact of cuts in the UK by gender and age. Research on Ageing and Social Policy 1, 2853.Google Scholar
Goudswaard, K, van Vliet, O, Been, J and Caminada, K (2012) Pensions and income inequality in old age. CESifo DICE Report, ISSN 1613-6373, ifo Institut-Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung an der Universität München, München, 10, 4, pp. 21–26.Google Scholar
Grenier, A, Lloyd, L and Phillipson, C (2017 a) Precarity in late life: rethinking dementia as a ‘frailed’ old age. Sociology of Health and Illness 39, 318330.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Grenier, A and Phillipson, C (2018) Precarious aging: Insecurity and risk in later life. Hastings Center Report 48, S15S18.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grenier, A, Phillipson, C, Laliberte Rudman, D, Hatzifilalithis, S, Kobayashi, K and Marier, P (2017 b) Precarity in late life: understanding new forms of risk and insecurity. Journal of Aging Studies 43, 914.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gruenberg, EM (1977) The failures of success. Milbank Memorial Fund Quarterly. Health and Society 55, 324.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grundy, E and Sloggett, A (2003) Health inequalities in the older population: the role of personal capital, social resources and socio-economic circumstances. Social Science and Medicine 56, 935947.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Harper, S and Lynch, J (2006) Measuring health inequalities. In Oakes, JM and Kaufman, JS (eds), Methods in Social Epidemiology. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, pp. 134168.Google Scholar
Heap, M (2016) Living Conditions in Old Age: Coexisting Disadvantages Across Life Domains (PhD thesis). University of Stockholm, Stockholm. Available at http://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:950787/FULLTEXT01.pdf.Google Scholar
Heap, M and Fors, S (2015) Duration and accumulation of disadvantages in old age. Social Indicators Research 123, 411429.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hedström, P and Ringen, S (1987) Age and income in contemporary society: a research note. Journal of Social Policy 16, 227239.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Herd, P (2006) Do functional health inequalities decrease in old age? Educational status and functional decline among the 1931–1941 birth cohort. Research on Aging 28, 375392.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Huisman, M, Read, S, Towriss, CA, Deeg, DJ and Grundy, E (2013) Socioeconomic inequalities in mortality rates in old age in the World Health Organization Europe region. Epidemiologic Reviews 35, 8497.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hülür, G, Drewelies, J, Eibich, P, Düzel, S, Demuth, I, Ghisletta, P, Steinhagen-Thiessen, E, Wagner, GG, Lindenberger, U and Gerstorf, J (2016) Cohort differences in psychosocial function over 20 years: current older adults feel less lonely and less dependent on external circumstances. Gerontology 62, 354361.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Islam, MK, Gerdtham, UG, Clarke, P and Burström, K (2010) Does income-related health inequality change as the population ages? Evidence from Swedish panel data. Health Economics 19, 334349.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jagger, C, Matthews, F, Wohland, P, Fouweather, T, Stephan, B, Robinson, L, Arthur, A and Brayne, C (2016) A comparison of health expectancies over two decades in England: results of the Cognitive Function and Ageing Study I and II. The Lancet 387, 779786.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kawachi, I, Subramanian, SV and Almeida-Filho, N (2002) A glossary for health inequalities. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health 56, 647652.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
King, NB, Harper, S and Young, ME (2012) Use of relative and absolute effect measures in reporting health inequalities: structured review. BMJ 345, e5774.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kjellsson, G, Gerdtham, UG and Petrie, D (2015) Lies, damned lies, and health inequality measurements: understanding the value judgments. Epidemiology (Cambridge, Mass.) 26, 673680.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kuhn, M and Rıos-Rull, J-V (2016) 2013 Update on the US earnings, income, and wealth distributional facts: a view from macroeconomics. Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis Quarterly Review 37, 175.Google Scholar
McMunn, A, Nazroo, J and Breeze, E (2009) Inequalities in health at older ages: a longitudinal investigation of the onset of illness and survival effects in England. Age and Ageing 38, 181187.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Millar, KM (2017) Toward a critical politics of precarity. Sociology Compass 11, e12483.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nordin, M and Gerdtham, UG (2014) Why a positive link between increasing age and income-related health inequality? Nordic Journal of Health Economics 2, 187201.Google Scholar
Office for National Statistics (2017) Household Disposable Income and Inequality in the UK: Financial Year Ending 2016. London: Office for National Statistics.Google Scholar
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) (2015) Income inequalities during the crisis and fiscal consolidation. In In It Together: Why Less Inequality Benefits All. Paris: OECD Publishing, pp. 101134.Google Scholar
Ouellette, N and Bourbeau, R (2011) Changes in the age-at-death distribution in four low mortality countries: a nonparametric approach. Demographic Research 25, 595628.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Parker, MG and Thorslund, M (2007) Health trends in the elderly population: getting better and getting worse. The Gerontologist 47, 150158.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pérès, K, Edjolo, A, Dartigues, JF and Barberger-Gateau, P (2013) Recent trends in disability-free life expectancy in the French elderly twenty years follow-up of the Paquid cohort. Annual Review of Gerontology and Geriatrics 33, 293311.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Piketty, T and Saez, E (2014) Inequality in the long run. Science 344, 838843.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Quadrini, V and Rıos-Rull, JV (1997) Dimensions of inequality: facts on the US distribution of earnings, income and wealth. Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis Quarterly Review 21, 321.Google Scholar
Ravallion, M (2014) Income inequality in the developing world. Science 344, 851855.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Regidor, E (2004) Measures of health inequalities: part 1. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health 58, 858861.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rowntree, BS (1901) Poverty: A Study of Town Life. London: Macmillan.Google Scholar
Sasson, I (2016) Trends in life expectancy and lifespan variation by educational attainment: United States, 1990–2010. Demography 53, 269293.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shragge, E (1984) Pensions Policy in Britain: A Socialist Analysis. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Solé-Auró, A, Beltrán-Sánchez, H and Crimmins, EM (2015) Are differences in disability-free life expectancy by gender, race, and education widening at older ages? Population Research and Policy Review 34, 118.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Standing, G (2011) The Precariat: The New Dangerous Class. London: Bloomsbury.Google Scholar
Thorslund, M and Lundberg, O (1994) Health and inequalities among the oldest old. Journal of Aging and Health 6, 5169.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Townsend, P (1962) The meaning of poverty. British Journal of Sociology 13, 210227.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Truesdale, BC and Jencks, C (2015) The health effects of income inequality: averages and disparities. Annual Review of Public Health 37, 413430.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Turner, BS (2006) Vulnerability and Human Rights. University Park, PA: Penn State University Press.Google Scholar
Van Kippersluis, H, Van Ourti, T, O'Donnell, O and Van Doorslaer, E (2009) Health and income across the life cycle and generations in Europe. Journal of Health Economics 28, 818830.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Victor, C and Bowling, A (2012) A longitudinal analysis of loneliness among older people in Great Britain. Journal of Psychology 146, 313331.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
von dem Knesebeck, O, Vonneilich, N and Lüdecke, D (2017) Income and functional limitations among the aged in Europe: a trend analysis in 16 countries. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health 71, 584591.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Walker, A (1980) The social creation of poverty and dependency in old age. Journal of Social Policy 9, 4975.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wright, EO (2016) Is the precariat a class? Global Labour Journal 7, 123135.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zeng, Y, Feng, Q, Hesketh, T, Christensen, K and Vaupel, JW (2017) Survival, disabilities in activities of daily living, and physical and cognitive functioning among the oldest-old in China: a cohort study. The Lancet 389, 16191629.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zunzunegui, MV, Nunez, O, Durban, M, de Yébenes, MJG and Otero, Á (2006) Decreasing prevalence of disability in activities of daily living, functional limitations and poor self-rated health: a 6-year follow-up study in Spain. Aging Clinical and Experimental Research 18, 352358.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed