Deck 12: Aging Families

Question 1

Which of the following represents patterns of aging in the U.S.?

A)In 1900 only about 1 in 25 people were elderly, compared to about 1 in 8 today, and about 1 in 5 by 2030.
B)The number of elderly has grown in our population at a rate almost twice as fast as the population as a whole.
C)Some minority groups--Hispanics and Blacks--are overrepresented among the elderly, given their size in the population.
D)There were about 19 million elderly in the U.S in 2010.
E)The growth of the elderly in the U.S. is due to the aging baby-boom population, higher birth rates, and improved life expectancy.

Answer 1

A

Question 2

The author of your text had a grandmother who lived to be over 108 years old. She is an example of a/an:

A)gerontologist
B)sandwich generation
C)ADL
D)triple jeopardy
E)centenarian

Answer 2

E

Question 3

A government cash assistance entitlement program for the elderly that we have come to call "Social Security" is actually titled:

A)Old Age, Survivor, and Disability Insurance
B)gerontology
C)poor laws
D)Medicare
E)regressive tax

Answer 3

A

Question 4

The theoretical perspective that believes that many other theories about aging reinforce ageist attitudes about the elderly and legitimize policies that reinforce dependency at the expense of empowerment is:

A)political economy
B)life course
C)critical theory
D)disengagement
E)continuity

Question 5

The largest component of the elderly's income comes from what source?

A)income
B)Social Security
C)earnings
D)pensions
E)asset income

Question 6

According to Figure 12.6, by age 85 and over, about ________ of females are widowed, compared to about ________ of males who are widowed.

A)one-half; almost one-quarter
B)three-quarters; a little over one-third
C)90 percent; nearly one-half
D)95 percent; nearly one-third
E)three-quarters; a little over one-half

Question 7

Most countries will see a ________ in both the sheer number of oldest-old, and their proportion of the elderly overall.

A)slight increase
B)rapid increase
C)slight decline
D)rapid decline
E)stabilization

Question 8

Why is the world's population aging so quickly?

A)People are living longer; fewer babies are being born.
B)The world's population has stabilized; life expectancy has declined in many countries due to AIDS.
C)People are living longer.
D)Actually, the numbers of the elderly are declining in much of the world.
E)Actually, the world's population is aging very slowly.

Question 9

All of the following would be denied to same-sex elderly couples EXCEPT:

A)Social Security survivor benefits
B)spousal Social Security benefits
C)Medicaid regulations to protect the couple's home and other assets when one enters a nursing home
D)the right to decide on the type of funeral for a partner
E)protection from 401(k)tax penalties

Question 10

An interdisciplinary science of aging that draws upon biology, medicine, and the social sciences is called:

A)gerontology
B)gerifocus
C)generational study
D)agifocus
E)oldenology

Question 11

Life expectancy:

A)represents how long a person can expect to live, on average, and can be calculated at any age
B)is always calculated at birth
C)was only about 60 for males and 58 for females in 1900
D)has made substantial gains of at least 20 years in all parts of the world over the past century
E)is now about 79 years for males and 84 years for females in the U.S.

Question 12

Maxine is doing research on the elderly, and she is interested in discovering the ways that the elderly either continue the roles and activities they have developed over their lives or substitute new ones, because she assumes that older people are happiest when they stay involved. What theory guides her research?

A)disengagement theory
B)life course perspective
C)critical theory
D)activity theory
E)political economy

Question 13

The "oldest-old" cohort usually refers to people who are age

A)55 and over
B)65 and over
C)75 and over
D)85 and over
E)100 and over

Question 14

Cassie is experiencing "triple jeopardy," which refers to:

A)living on only Social Security payments
B)adult children, usually daughters, who are caring for both their parents and their own children at the same time
C)persons aged 100 and over
D)lower-income persons pay a higher tax rate than do higher-income persons
E)people who face multiple disadvantages in society, such as being old, female, and minority

Question 15

According to the World Map, the area LEAST likely to see tremendous growth in the proportion of elderly in the population is:

A)Russia
B)China
C)South America
D)U)S.
E)Africa

Question 16

Which of the following is true about the sex lives of elders?

A)Generally, they are no longer sexually active, especially after age 70.
B)Many elderly people are sexually active.
C)Women are more likely to be sexually active than are men.
D)The sex difference in the rates of sexual activity is due to the fact that more women than men have available sex partners.
E)The disengagement theory can help us understand that the elderly were young once and do not plan to give up their sexual lives just as young people today probably don't plan to give up theirs.

Question 17

After centuries of having a high fertility rate and low life expectancy, China has changed. Over the last few decades China has achieved very low fertility rates, and life expectancy has increased significantly. This is referred to as the:

A)population revolution
B)sandwich generation
C)fertility change cycle
D)demographic transition
E)population growth cycle

Question 18

Trevor earned $106,800 in 2010; therefore, he paid 6.2 percent of his income in Social Security taxes or $6,675. Meanwhile, Cody earned $213,600 and also paid 6.2 percent on his first $106,800, and then nothing on the rest, also coming to $6,675. Therefore, Social Security taxes are called _________.

A)portable
B)English poor laws
C)regressive
D)OASI
E)retrograde

Question 19

According to Figure 12.2, which compares the age-sex structure of developing countries and developed countries:

A)most will retain an extremely small elderly population in 2030 because life expectancy will remain low while fertility rates will likely remain high
B)the oldest-old will be among the largest cohorts of any age group
C)the ratio of older women to older men is more equal in less developed countries than in more developed countries
D)the pyramid shape of less developed countries will look only slightly different in 2030 compared to 1950, unlike in the developed countries
E)the largest age cohort by far will remain those who are aged 0-4

Question 20

Which is true with respect to widowhood?

A)Widowhood may contribute to an earlier death for Blacks, but not for Whites.
B)Most studies find that women who lose their spouses have a more difficult time than do men who lose their spouses because they are likely to be poorer, and less likely to have widowed friends.
C)Middle-class couples, as compared to working-class couples, may experience less disorganization in their lives immediately after the death of a spouse.
D)Over 14 million persons are classified as widowed in the U.S. and 85 percent of them are women.
E)Widowed women are more likely to remarry than are widowed men.

Question 21

"Elderly" generally refers to people who are age 65 and over.

Question 22

Grandma Jean and Grandpa Herb love to have their grandchildren come over to their house to play. Together they like to read books, work on puzzles, and cuddle on the couch while watching TV. Occasionally the grandchildren are able to spend the night at their house. This is an example of what type of relationship?

A)involved
B)remote
C)companionate
D)sandwiched
E)irrevocable

Question 23

Grandmothers are more likely than grandfathers to have responsibility for maintaining family relationships, and are referred to as the _________ in the family.

A)baby-boomer
B)centenarian
C)fictive kin
D)gerontologist
E)kinkeeper

Question 24

Minority grandparents, especially grandmothers, are often quite involved in their grandchildren's lives and have important and influential roles in childrearing, often mimicking parent-like behavior. In other words, they may be more likely to have a/an _________ relationship with their grandchildren.

A)remote
B)involved
C)companionate
D)sandwich
E)open

Question 25

The demographic transition refers to the increasing fertility found in many developing countries.

Question 26

Researchers track the degree of impairment that elders face in things such as bathing, dressing, eating, or walking indoors by using a common set of measures called:

A)activities of daily living (ADL)
B)informal care
C)long-term care scale
D)formal care
E)dementia

Question 27

Medicare:

A)is the health insurance program that serves poor persons, regardless of age, but covers the long-term care services of many elderly
B)was created in the 1930s during the New Deal after the Depression
C)is structured so that the elderly spend very little out of their own pockets--only about $500 a year on average
D)is an example of the uniquely American inconsistency in health care that is found in no other developed nation
E)covers so many conditions and does it so inexpensively that very few elders have some additional form of insurance

Question 28

Social Security pays spousal benefits to married couples and survivor benefits to widows or widowers, but same-sex life partners do not have these same protections.

Question 29

The baby-boom generation consists of people who were born in the 1970s and 1980s.

Question 30

Your mom and dad are approaching retirement age. What would you tell them about sex differences in retirement?

A)Women begin planning for retirement earlier than men.
B)The process of retiring is associated with a decrease in marital quality for women but not for men.
C)Conflicts are most likely to arise when both spouses retire at the same time, rather than one retiring while the other continues working.
D)Men are more satisfied with retirement than are women.
E)Part-time employment is linked to retirement satisfaction for both men and women.

Question 31

Old Age and Survivor Insurance (OASI)is a cash assistance program for seniors age 60 and over that has also been extended to widows and divorcées who were married to their spouse for at least 10 years.

Question 32

The political economy perspective, a component of critical theory, describes the role of capitalism and the state in contributing to systems of power, domination, and marginalization of the elderly.

Question 33

Which of the following about long-term care is TRUE?

A)The majority of elders in the U.S. rely on formal care, most commonly a nursing home.
B)Meals on Wheels, nursing homes, and housecleaning services for the elderly are examples of formal care.
C)The sandwich generation refers to caring for a frail elderly person while you are also employed full-time.
D)One study of gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender adults aged 50 and over living in New York found that almost half of them were providing (or had recently provided)caregiving assistance, but most believe that they are called on less often than their siblings because of their sexual orientation.
E)Caregivers generally find caring for a frail elderly to be a labor of love, and only about 10-20 percent report emotional strain or depression because of it.

Question 34

Kübler-Ross' work shows us that everyone goes through the following stages of grief, in the same order: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance.

Question 35

With respect to dementia:

A)it is the most common form of Alzheimer's disease
B)Alzheimer's disease is declining because doctors now can reverse it if caught early enough
C)it affects about l million elderly
D)it affects people primarily older than age 75, and it comes on quickly
E)it includes a decline in memory and in some cognitive abilities

Question 36

The research is clear: marital satisfaction drops when a couple has children, but rises again significantly after the children leave home.

Question 37

The reason the world's population is aging so quickly is that people are living longer and fewer babies are being born.

Question 38

The two World Maps indicate that most regions of the world are aging rapidly except for Africa.

Question 39

For significant numbers of elderly to be able to withdraw from the labor force, four (4)conditions must exist in society, according to your text. Which is NOT one of those conditions?

A)A society must produce an economic surplus that is large enough to support its nonemployed members.
B)There must be a mechanism in place to divert some of the ecoonomic surplus to the nonemployed members.
C)Life expectancy must reach at least 65 so that there are sufficient numbers of old people.
D)Nonemployed members must be viewed positively by the rest of the society.
E)The activities and leisure of the nonemployed must be seen as legitimate.

Question 40

A 2009 Pew Research survey found that among 22- to 29-year-olds, 1 in 8 say that because of the recession they have moved back to live with their parents after being on their own, thus giving them the nickname of:

A)dependency theorists
B)clingy children
C)helicopter parents
D)the needy generation
E)boomerangers

Question 41

The term sandwich generation refers to ________.

Question 42

The growth in the elderly population is so phenomenal that many government agencies are expanding their age categories to include "100 and over," called ________.

Question 43

By age 65, most adults have retired, although more of them were working in 2009 compared to 2000 because of the recession.

Question 44

A regressive tax is defined as ________.

Question 45

________ is the health insurance program created for people aged 65 and over; ________ is the health insurance program designed to serve poor persons of any age that also pays for long-term care.

Question 46

One of the more popular perspectives on death and dying is based on the work of Elizabeth Kübler-Ross. List the stages of grief.

Question 47

For significant numbers of elderly to be able to withdraw from the labor force, four conditions must exist in a society. List these conditions.

Question 48

________ are the two (2)largest sources of income for the elderly.

Question 49

The majority of long-term care is informal care, most often by a spouse if one is available, or a daughter or daughter-in-law if a spouse is not available.

Question 50

Distinguish between formal care and informal care to elders, and give examples of each.

Question 51

________ is the term we use for the person who has the primary responsibility for maintaining family relationships, like sending birthday cards, or calling on the telephone.

Question 52

The demographic transition is ________.

Question 53

The world's population is aging so rapidly because of these two (2)reasons:

Question 54

The most common type of relationship that grandparents have with their grandchild is "involved."

Question 55

Your great-aunt Maria is an 87-year-old Hispanic woman, and therefore has a greater likelihood than 66-year-old David, who is White, to be in poverty. Maria's situation is called ________.

Question 56

List the seven (7)common theories of aging.

Question 57

Medicare, the health insurance program for the elderly, was created in 1965, and is a universal rather than means-tested program.

Question 58

List three (3)ways that federal law treats same-sex couples differently from heterosexual married couples.

Question 59

With respect to marital satisfaction among the elderly, cross-sectional studies generally suggest __________, whereas studies over time generally suggest __________.

Question 60

Aging parents receive more help from their adult children than they give to them.

Question 61

Describe the marriage rates of the elderly by sex and age. Now choose two (2)issues that aging couples face to discuss in depth: marital satisfaction; sexuality; gay and lesbian elders; widowhood.

Question 62

Describe the changing demographics around the world with respect to aging. Be sure to make comparisons between developing and developed countries, and explain the reasons for the rapid growth.

Question 63

Compare and contrast the seven (7)theories of aging that are often used in the field of gerontology. Choose one topic from the chapter and apply one of these theories.

Question 64

Write an essay about the economics of aging. Be sure to include the sources of income for the elderly, and describe the Social Security program and the history of its creation.

Question 65

Compare and contrast (1)sex and (2)racial/ethnic differences in grandparenting styles.

Question 66

Write an essay about retirement. Be sure to describe how, historically and cross-culturally, retirement is an anomaly. Also discuss sex differences in retirement.

Question 67

Describe the health status of elders, including dementia, how we measure their degree of impairment, and the provision of long-term care services in the U.S.