As individuals in society age, concerns such as who will care for them, how will they support themselves, and whether or not the means they chose to support themselves is an adequate way to do so. As we have discussed in class, one of the most prevalent ways in which people are able to live beyond retirement and survive if they are poor is via social security. Before discussing the concerns pertaining to social security, one must consider its’ origin, who it is directed towards, how adequate is this policy, in addition to concerns about the future “solvency” of Social Security. More specifically, one must also analyze how Social Security reflects the demographic changes in the United States population. Lastly, one must also direct much thought …show more content…
The most noticeable variation in how individual social groups differ in their dependence on Social Security during later life relies on factors such as gender, ethnicity, and class status position. There exists a huge gender inequality gap in old age and in relationship to social security, which reflects the gender division of labor. The gender division of labor pertains to the traditional woman having to do most of the at home activities while the husband engages in most of the paid labor. As a result, when the woman ages, she is likely to have problems collecting pension benefits via Social Security due to limited work and labor contributions in the paid work force. Women are alleviated of this if they have to leave the labor force to care for family or children, however, they just won’t be compensated from social security (Lecture: November 5). As far as the relationship between inequality and ethnicity, those individuals who are considered as aging minorities face disadvantages as well when receiving Social Security benefits as well. Minorities have a history of experiencing constraints on certain job opportunities, which, results in them obtaining jobs that don’t pay as much. As a consequence, they are not able to put much into their retirement fund and therefore will not receive much upon