Deck 10: Older People and Their Families

Question 1

Based on current figures, you and your parents' lives, on average, will overlap by about _____ years.

A)50
B)70
C)30
D)20

Answer 1

A

Question 2

People who are at least 100 years old are known as ________.

A)centenarians
B)octogenarians
C)quadragenarians
D)septuagenarians

Answer 2

A

Question 3

According to their own responses to different surveys, what do most of the elderly in Western nations prefer in their relationships with their children and grandchildren?

A)"intimacy at a distance"
B)sharing the same household
C)sharing the same neighborhood
D)a hands-off approach

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Which of the following relationships tends to be the most distant in middle and late life in the United States?

A)mother-son
B)mother-daughter
C)divorced mother-children
D)divorced father-children

Question 5

The most common generation linkage of kin in the United States is __________ generations.

A)five
B)four
C)three
D)two

Question 6

Falling mortality and fertility rates have altered the kinship bonds of people in the United States. The major change has been

A)an increase in horizontal ties and a decrease in vertical ties across generations.
B)decline in bonds of kinship of all types.
C)decreasing vertical links across generations.
D)decreasing horizontal bonds and increasing vertical bonds of kinship across generations.

Question 7

In a recent survey, it was found that _______ of the caregivers for the dependent elderly living in the community and not in nursing homes were women.

A)one-half
B)two-thirds
C)three-quarters
D)four-fifths

Question 8

Which of the following factors has contributed to grandparenthood becoming a distinct stage of life?

A)decline in adult mortality
B)decrease in fertility
C)increased standard of living
D)all of these

Question 9

Which of the following statements is true about the social conditions and family life in the early decades of the twentieth century?

A)People received high wages, and there was no unemployment.
B)Employment compensation programs were better in the twenty-first century.
C)Social welfare programs were absent in the twentieth century.
D)Social Security benefits were better in the twentieth century.

Question 10

As the twentieth century ended, the most common living arrangement among elderly women in the U.S. was to live

A)with a married daughter.
B)alone.
C)in a nursing home.
D)with a married son.

Question 11

Identify an accurate statement about multigenerational households.

A)They have higher poverty rates than skipped-generation households.
B)They are the most disadvantaged of all the kinds of grandparent-grandchild households.
C)They are households that contain grandparents and grandchildren but exclude parents.
D)They are common in Latin American and Asian cultures.

Question 12

Which of the following statements is true about skipped-generation households?

A)They are households that have at least three generations of family members residing with each other.
B)They are the most disadvantaged of all the kinds of grandparent-grandchild households.
C)They have lower poverty rates than multigenerational households.
D)They are formed when parents are able to provide sufficient care for their children.

Question 13

The primary factor determining the amount and degree of contact among families is

A)love.
B)health.
C)previous relations.
D)geographical distance.

Question 14

In 2010, there were about ______________ centenarians in the United States.

A)25,000
B)50,000
C)75,000
D)100,000

Question 15

The group level process that consists of mixed feelings across multiple children is known as ________.

A)social tuning
B)reflexivity
C)collective ambivalence
D)assimilation

Question 16

Of the following, which statement most clearly reflects intergenerational ambivalence?

A)men feel more ambivalence toward their older parents than do women
B)women feel more ambivalence toward their older parents than do men
C)older parents feel more ambivalence toward their sons
D)a son is more likely to provide care for an aging parent even though he feels ambivalent toward him or her

Question 17

Which of the following statements is true about Medicaid?

A)It is a government health insurance program that pays nothing for nursing home care.
B)It is a private health insurance program for middle-class people.
C)It is used by people who have incomes that fall below the poverty line.
D)It covers health expenditures for everyone.

Question 18

In the 2015 federal budget, Social Security

A)accounted for 24% of the entire federal budget.
B)combined with Medicare accounted for 35% of the federal budget.
C)accounted for $34 billion more than all expenditures on National Defense.
D)all of these

Question 19

Among the elderly, those most likely to be poor are

A)the old-old.
B)older women.
C)African American or Hispanic individuals.
D)all of these

Question 20

The percentage of grandchildren living with grandparents has

A)decreased.
B)remained the same over the last 50 years.
C)increased.
D)diminished because grandparents are too old to take care of small children.

Question 21

Skipped-generation households are created because of the following reason(s):

A)child abuse by parent.
B)incarceration of parent.
C)drug abuse or illness.
D)all of these

Question 22

Medicare, the government program of health insurance for the elderly, pays the majority of the health expenditures of the elderly.

Question 23

Intergenerational ties are becoming more important because of

A)the greater life expectancy of grandparents.
B)the decline of the two-parent nuclear family.
C)lack of public care of the elderly.
D)the increased importance of family in the U.S.society.

Question 24

When divorce or death of a biological parent occurs, there is little relationship left between the stepchild and the stepparent in contemporary U.S. family life.

Question 25

Of the following living arrangements, which is the most likely one for elderly men today in the United States?

A)living alone
B)living with a spouse
C)living with other relatives
D)living with other non-relatives

Question 26

Which of the following factors did not contribute to the elderly relying on kin for support in the earlier history of our country?

A)social welfare programs
B)unemployment
C)death
D)lower wages

Question 27

The elderly seem to be gaining not in just living longer, but also living healthier.

Question 28

Most seriously impaired older persons live in nursing homes than in the community.

Question 29

Overall, the contact among the elderly, their children, and their grandchildren in the United States is high.

Question 30

When the author uses the term the "family national guard" he refers to

A)social workers.
B)women.
C)grandparents.
D)men.

Question 31

The average monthly Social Security benefit has doubled in purchasing power since 1960, even taking into account inflation.

Question 32

Intergenerational solidarity is usually measured by contact, affinity, and proximity.

Question 33

In 2011, nearly 7.6 million children lived with their grandparents.

Question 34

In 1998, thirty nine percent of grandparents reported that they had at least one grandchild that lived within five miles of them.

Question 35

The increase in fertility is a major reason why grandparenthood on a large scale is a recent phenomenon.

Question 36

Historical accounts suggest that intensive intergenerational cooperation was more common in the earlier history of our country than it is today.

Question 37

Women have greater ambivalent feelings toward their parents than men because

A)they have less time to take care of them today because of employment.
B)grandparents often are called upon for help with child care.
C)older people have greater life expectancy today.
D)both they have less time to take care of them today because of employment and grandparents often are called upon for help with child care

Question 38

Spouses and relatives provide most of the assistance to the elderly in the United States currently.

Question 39

In many instances, the elderly today are more independent because they can be. Discuss the sociological and demographic reasons for this change of status for the elderly.

Question 40

Given the great success of the U.S. Social Security program, which is available to nearly all workers and which has enhanced considerably the living conditions of the elderly, why do you suppose so many U.S. citizens are opposed to a similar universal program for all children under the age of 18?

Question 41

Discuss caregivers and stress and how giving care is often less stressful and more rewarding than not giving care.

Question 42

With respect to older parents and their adult children, discuss the three broad characteristics of intergenerational solidarity.

Question 43

When grown children and their elderly parents assist each other, the assistance is often complementary. How so?

Question 44

In terms of kinship ties, why are elderly males at risk?

Question 45

Describe a multigenerational household and the effects it might have on the families who live in them.

Question 46

There seems to be a growing (and perhaps manufactured) tension between the elderly, nonworking population of the United States and the current workers, mostly baby boomers, over Social Security. Why is Social Security, as it exists currently, a divisive issue for these two groups? What about the future, as baby boomers age?

Question 47

Discuss what Cherlin meant by "the more-than-four grandparents phenomenon" is so new that no one is sure what influence it may have on family life.

Question 48

How do family caregivers to the elderly perform a critical public service?

Question 49

In earlier generations, older parents and their adult children were often forced to rely on each other, regardless of their desire to do so. Discuss some of the reasons for this reliance on each other.

Question 50

Discuss why, over the past few decades, a modest but growing percentage of grandchildren have been living with their grandparents. Be sure to mention skipped-generation households.