Essay on Social stratification and social inequality
Social stratification and social inequality have a notable impact on the economic security of people in old age. The differences in initial family welfare and life opportunities contribute to the process of transferring social inequality from generation to generation. The theory of cumulative disadvantage states that social inequality in general and economic insecurity in particular evolve as part of a cumulative process that takes place during the whole course of life (George, 2010). One of important issues emerging due to social inequality is economic insecurity of most ethnic minority groups in old age.
According to Schulz (2006), the economic status of non-Hispanic white elderly Americans is significantly better than the economic position of elderly people who belong to Native American, Hispanic and African American ethnic groups. There exist significant differences in incomes and even greater differences in net worth, which affect the quality of life for ethnic minorities in the old age. It is notable that elderly representatives of Asian ethnic minority groups are more economically secure than the general population. At the same time, these data are in line with income statistics: Asian Americans tend to have incomes comparable with non-Hispanic White Americans or even higher (Schulz, 2006).
The majority of elderly people (64%) rely on Social Security as their main source of economic security. The representatives of ethnic minorities demonstrate a greater reliance on Social Security income compared to white non-Hispanic Americans: for example, 71% of African Americans, 74% of Hispanics and 68% of Asian Americans rely on Social Security for 50% or more of their income, while only 63% of non-Hispanic White elderly people receive half or more of their income from Social Security (George, 2010). Therefore, ethnic minorities have greater reliance on Social Security in old age, and it is reasonable to assume that these ethnic groups also have greater economic insecurity in old age.
Indeed, Social Security rules provide higher benefits for people with higher-paid jobs, continuous employment histories and active workforce participation (Schulz, 2006). This means that the representatives of minority groups are likely to have lower Social Security benefits during retirement due to more sporadic employment, higher unemployment rates, lower-paid jobs, etc. (Schulz, 2006) In addition, minorities are less likely to have access to employer pensions, which makes their economic position even more vulnerable.
It is notable that single old people are more likely to experience economic insecurity regardless of ethnic group; however, especially vulnerable categories of elderly people are single Hispanic and African-American people. Indeed, the rates of economic insecurity constitute 48% and 65% for African American and Hispanic couples correspondingly, while for single African American and Hispanic retirees the rates of economic insecurity constitute 77% and 83% accordingly (George, 2010).
Economic security of elderly minority populations is additionally affected by the presence of recent and foreign-born immigrants in their families (which reduces access to Medicare) and lower chance of owning a house (due to housing discrimination) (Schulz, 2006). In general, the most economically insecure ethnic groups in the old age are African Americans – due to lower wages and episodic employment, and Indian Americans – due to previous state policies acting against indigenous population. Economic security of elderly people of Hispanic origin differs by their country of origin (Schulz, 2006): for example, average well-being of Cuban retirees can be compared with non-Hispanic Whites, while aged people of Mexican or Puerto-Rican origin are likely to have low levels of economic security. Hence, there are notable differences in economic security in old age between different ethnic groups.
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