Abstract
Age groups and generations are an important basis of social inequality. This raises two questions that I will discuss in this chapter: first, how age- and generation-based inequalities have developed and are affected by current social change, and second, how these inequalities translate into social cleavages and conflicts. Sustained inequalities may lead to cleavages between distinct population groups. Cleavages create the potential for conflicts. Whether and to what extent these conflicts manifest themselves openly depend on the mobilization of the actors on both sides of the rift. However, there are also links which reach across the cleavages. Aging societies marked by demographic discontinuity depend heavily on these links for maintaining societal integration. The links are created by a range of institutions — above all, political institutions such as parties and unions on the one hand and families on the other. This potential for generational integration is threatened, though, by the current changes in social structure and the welfare state.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Albertini, M., R. Impicciatore, and D. Tuorto (2013), Un Grillo nella testa dei giovani, http://www.lavoce.info/un-grillo-nella-testa-dei-giovani/, date accessed March 3, 2013.
—, and M. Kohli (2013), ‘The Generational Contract in the Family: An Analysis of Transfer Regimes in Europe’, European Sociological Review, 29, 828–40.
—, and M. Kohli, and C. Vogel (2007), ‘Intergenerational Transfers of Time and Money in European Families: Common Patterns — Different Regimes?’, Journal of European Social Policy, 17, 319–34.
Bengtson, V. L. (1993), ‘Is the “Contract Across Generations” Changing? Effects of Population Aging on Obligations and Expectations Across Age Groups’, in V. L. Bengtson and W. A. Achenbaum (eds), The Changing Contract Across Generations (New York: Aldine de Gruyter), pp. 3–24.
Bettio, F., A. Simonazzi, and P. Villa (2006), ‘Change in Care Regimes and Female Migration: The “Care Drain” in the Mediterranean’, Journal of European Social Policy, 16, 271–85.
Binstock, R. H. (2000), ‘Older People and Voting Participation: Past and Future’, The Gerontologist, 40, 18–31.
Blossfeld, H.-P. et al. (eds) (2005), Globalization, Uncertainty and Youth in Society: The Losers in a Globalizing World (New York: Routledge).
Bonoli, G., and S. Häusermann (2009), ‘Who Wants What from the Welfare State? Social-Structural Cleavages in Distributional Politics: Evidence from Swiss Referendum Votes’, European Societies, 11, 211–32.
Börsch-Supan, A., and H. Jürges (eds) (2005), The Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe — Methodology (Mannheim: MEA).
— et al. (eds) (2005), Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe: First Results from SHARE (Mannheim: MEA).
Busemeyer, M. R., A. Goerres, and S. Weschle (2009), ‘Attitudes Towards Redistributive Spending in an Era of Demographic Ageing: The Rival Pressures from Age and Income in 14 OECD Countries’, Journal of European Social Policy, 19, 195–212.
Campbell, A. L., and R. H. Binstock (2011), ‘Politics and Aging in the United States’, in R. H. Binstock and Linda K. George (eds), Handbook of Aging and the Social Sciences, 7th edn (San Diego, CA: Academic Press), pp. 265–79.
Daniels, N. (1988), Am I My Parents’ Keeper? An Essay on Justice between the Old and the Young (Oxford: Oxford University Press).
Easterlin, R. A. (1980), Birth and Fortune: The Impact of Numbers on Personal Welfare (New York: Basic Books).
Ehmer, J. (2000), ‘Ökonomische Transfers und emotionale Bindungen in den Generationenbeziehungen des 18. und 19. Jahrhunderts’, in M. Kohli and M. Szydlik (eds), Generationen in Familie und Gesellschaft (Opladen: Leske + Budrich), pp. 77–96.
Ehrhardt, J., and M. Kohli (2011), ‘Individualization and Fertility’, in J. Ehmer et al. (eds), Fertility in the History of the Twentieth Century: Trends, Theories, Policies, Discourses (Special issue of Historical Social Research, vol. 36, No. 2), pp. 35–64.
Elder, G. H., Jr. (1974), Children of the Great Depression: Social Change in Life Experience (Chicago: University of Chicago Press).
Esping-Andersen, G., and S. Sarasa (2002), ‘The Generational Contract Reconsidered’, Journal of European Social Policy, 12, 5–21.
Förster, M., and M. d’Ercole (2005), ‘Income Distribution and Poverty in OECD Countries in the Second Half of the 1990s’, OECD Social Employment and Migration Working Papers, No. 22, http://ideas.repec.org/p/oec/elsaab/22-en.html, date accessed July 16, 2008.
Giarrusso, R., V. L. Bengtson, and M. Stallings (1994), ‘The “Intergenerational Stake” Hypothesis Revisited: Parent-Child Differences in Perceptions of Relationships 20 Years Later’, in V. L. Bengtson, K. W. Schaie, and L. M. Burton (eds), Adult Intergenerational Relations (New York: Springer), pp. 227–63.
Goerres, A. (2009), The Political Participation of Older People in Europe: The Greying of Our Democracies (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan).
Hicks, P. (2001), ‘Public Support for Retirement Income Reform’, OECD Labour Market and Social Policy Occasional Papers, No. 55, http://ideas.repec.org/p/oec/elsaaa/55-en.html, date accessed July 16, 2008.
Hoffmann, R. (2008), Socioeconomic Differences in Old Age Mortality (Dordrecht: Springer).
Kaufmann, F.-X. (2005), ‘Gibt es einen Generationenvertrag?’, in F.-X. Kaufmann (ed.), Sozialpolitik und Sozialstaat: Soziologische Analysen, 2nd edn (Wiesbaden: VS), pp. 161–82.
Kohl, J. (2003), Citizens’ Opinions on the Transition from Work to Retirement, Paper for the ISSA 4th International Research Conference on “Social Security in a Long Life Society”, Antwerp.
Kohli, M. (1987), ‘Retirement and the Moral Economy: An Historical Interpretation of the German Case’, Journal of Aging Studies, 1, 125–44.
— (1999), ‘Private and Public Transfers Between Generations: Linking the Family and the State’, European Societies, 1, 81–104.
— (2006), ‘Aging and Justice’, in R. H. Binstock and L. K. George (eds), Handbook of Aging and the Social Sciences, 6th edn (San Diego, CA: Academic Press), pp. 456–78.
— (2007), ‘The Institutionalization of the Life Course: Looking Back to Look Ahead’, Research in Human Development, 4, 253–71.
— (2010), ‘Age Groups and Generations: Lines of Conflict and Potentials for Integration’, in J. C. Tremmel (ed.), A Young Generation under Pressure? The Financial Situation and the “Rush Hour” of the Cohorts 1970–1985 in a Generational Comparison (Berlin/Heidelberg: Springer), pp. 169–85.
—, M. Albertini, and H. Künemund (2010), ‘Linkages among Adult Family Generations: Evidence from Comparative Survey Research’, in P. Heady and M. Kohli (eds), Family, Kinship and State in Contemporary Europe, vol. 3: Perspectives on Theory and Policy (Frankfurt/M: Campus), pp. 195–220.
—, and H. Künemund (eds) (2005), Die zweite Lebenshälfte. Gesellschaftliche Lage und Partizipation im Spiegel des Alters-Survey, 2nd edn (Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften).
—, S. Neckel, and J. Wolf (1999), ‘Krieg der Generationen? Die politische Macht der Älteren’, in A. Niederfranke, G. Naegele, and E. Frahm (eds), Funkkolleg Altern, Bd. 2. (Opladen: Westdeutscher Verlag), pp. 479–514.
— et al. (2000), Grunddaten zur Lebenssituation der 40–85jährigen deutschen Bevölkerung. Ergebnisse des Alters-Survey (Berlin: Weißensee).
Lee, R., and A. Mason (eds) (2011), Population Aging and the Generational Economy: A Global Perspective (Cheltenham: Edward Elgar).
Liebig, S., H. Lengfeld, and S. Mau (2004), ‘Einleitung: Gesellschaftliche Verteilungsprobleme und der Beitrag der soziologischen Gerechtigkeits-forschung’, in S. Liebig, H. Lengfeld, and S. Mau (eds), Verteilungsprobleme und Gerechtigkeit in modernen Gesellschaften (Frankfurt/M: Campus), pp. 7–26.
Low, B. S. (1998), ‘The Evolution of Human Life Histories’, in C. Crawford and D. L. Krebs (eds), Handbook of Evolutionary Psychology: Ideas, Issues, and Applications (Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum), pp. 131–61.
Mannheim, K. (1928), ‘Das Problem der Generationen’, Kölner Vierteljahrshefte für Soziologie, 7, 157–85, 309–30.
Mayer, K. U. (2001), ‘The Paradox of Global Social Change and National Path Dependencies: Life Course Patterns in Advanced Societies’, in A. Woodward and M. Kohli (eds), Inclusions and Exclusions in European Societies (London: Routledge), pp. 89–110.
Mirowsky, J., and C. E. Ross (1999), ‘Economic Hardship across the Life Course’, American Sociological Review, 64, 548–69.
OECD (2009), Growing Unequal? Income Distribution and Poverty in OECD Countries (Paris: OECD).
Olshansky, S. J. et al. (2012), ‘Differences in Life Expectancy Due to Race and Educational Differences are Widening, and Many May Not Catch Up’, Health Affairs, 31, 1803–13.
Preston, S. H. (1984), ‘Children and the Elderly: Divergent Paths for America’s Dependents’, Demography, 21, 435–457.
Scherger, S., and M. Kohli (2005), ‘Eine Gesellschaft — zwei Vergangenheiten? Historische Ereignisse und kollektives Gedächtnis in Ost- und Westdeutschland’, BIOS — Zeitschrift für Biographieforschung, Oral History und Lebensver-laufsanalysen, 18, 3–27.
Sinn, H.-W., and S. Uebelmesser (2002), ‘Pensions and the Path to Gerontocracy in Germany’, European Journal of Political Economy, 19, 153–8.
Svallfors, S. (2008), ‘The Generational Contract in Sweden: Age-Specifc Attitudes to Age-Related Policies’, Policy & Politics, 36, 381–96.
Szydlik, M. (2002), ‘Wenn sich Generationen auseinanderleben’, ZSE — Zeitschrift für Soziologie der Erziehung und Sozialisation, 22, 362–73.
Tepe, M., and P. Vanhuysse (2009), ‘Are Aging OECD Welfare States on the Path to Gerontocracy?’, Journal of Public Policy, 29, 1–28.
Thomson, D. (1989), Selfsh Generations: The Ageing of the Welfare State (Wellington: Allen & Unwin).
Uhlenberg, P. (2009), ‘Children in an Aging Society’, Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences, 64B, 489–96.
Wohl, R. (1979), The Generation of 1914 (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press).
Wolf, J., M. Kohli, and H. Künemund (eds) (1994), Alter und gewerkschaftliche Politik: Auf dem Weg zur Rentnergewerkschaft? (Köln: Bund-Verlag).
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2015 Martin Kohli
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Kohli, M. (2015). Generations in Aging Societies: Inequalities, Cleavages, Conflicts. In: Torp, C. (eds) Challenges of Aging. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137283177_14
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137283177_14
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-67080-2
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-28317-7
eBook Packages: Palgrave Social Sciences CollectionSocial Sciences (R0)