Program Lesson 9 Work, Retirement, and Economic Status


Many people continue working as they age	Definitions of retirement vary among individuals	Eric Birchander discovered a new love of cooking after he retired	Older women and older minorities are at risk for poverty

Summary of the Video and Text

Video

The video is comprised of three segments. In the first, older adults discuss their experiences with paid and voluntary work in old age. We learn that a lifetime of low income forces many African American and Hispanic elders to continue working well past the age that most Caucasian Americans retire. Senior employment programs that provide low-income elders with paying jobs are described. Ageist and sexist attitudes and recessionary times, however, can keep older adults out of the work force.

The second segment discusses how the experience of retirement differs by gender and ethnicity. Regardless of race and sex, however, advance planning can help assure financial security and social support in retirement. The third segment presents information on economic status in old age including a discussion of why older women and minorities are at risk of poverty. The experts advocate for changes in our social security, pension, and employment systems in order to close these gaps.

Video Quote: Mary Sue and Roger Wonson found that retirement required some adjustment in their marital relationship

Mary Sue Wonson: "One of the big adjustments to retirement -- I looked forward to it and loved having Roger around. But I have enjoyed having time to myself. And my mother-in-law used to refer to it as inviting my soul. And I liked that time. But when he first retired, I seemed to have no time that I called my time. Then it just worked out and fell into a wonderful pattern. I like to get up early. I get up at five every day to either write or read or sew. Or do anything creative that I'd like to do. He likes to sleep until seven-thirty or eight, so that is when I have my time to invite my soul."

Text

Chapter 12 "Productive Aging: Paid and Nonpaid Roles and Activities," contains sections on retirement, employment status, economic status, and poverty among old and young. These sections present information on the types of jobs older people have, the extent of unemployment among the elderly, barriers to employment in old age, timing of and satisfaction with retirement, sources of income in retirement, and the causes of and extensiveness of poverty in old age.

Chapter 16, "Social Policies to Address Social Problems," offers sections on income security programs and private pensions and income tax provisions.

Video Quote: Marta Sotomayor, Ph.D., notes the causes of poverty among Hispanic elderly

Marta Sotomayor: "We concentrate primarily on the very poor elderly -- Latino elderly -- that have a very unique kind of an experience. Illiteracy rates are very high. We already said educational levels are very, very low. Which means that they have access to the very menial kinds of employment, where there is hardly any pensions -- retirement pensions. There is no health coverage, practically -- many of them are not covered by Social Security. So when they get to be fifty-five and sixty-five, not only are they quite battered because of the kind of employment that they've been doing, but also they have very limited resources to survive."

Video Quote: Lou Glasse, M.S.W., comments on older women as a population at risk of poverty now and in the projected future.

Lou Glasse: "Studies have shown that looking down the road some thirty years, we find that the poverty of older men and of older couples will largely be solved. But not the problem of poverty of older women. That will continue almost at the same level as it is now. So we're not satisfied with that, and we've got to make a change. But the only way we're going to change that is to change the systems. The Social Security systems, the pension systems, and the employment systems. And that's what we need to do together."

Features of the Study and Faculty Guides

Study Guide (MySocKit)

Key points of the lesson, integrating video and text, are elucidated under the learning objective topics. Self-study questions help students prepare for exams. Descriptions of discussion and essay/research topics provide instructions for a variety of activities that may be assigned by the instructor. The Study Guide also provides a glossary of key terms and concepts covered in the telecourse and a listing of participants in the video.

Faculty Guide

The descriptions of discussion and essay/research topics presented in the Study Guide are reprinted in the Faculty Guide with tips for assigning the activities effectively. In addition, in-class activity suggestions and exam questions/answers are included. The Guide offers options appropriate for faculty using the telecourse in different settings, e.g., in-class, distance learning, interactive television, or a combination of formats. A Video Index helps instructors find segments of the video by time code and topic.