Social class and inequality in later life

Abstract

This chapter begins with a consideration of models and theories concerning social class. It focuses upon the distinctions between relational and gradational models of class. It then explores how these different models seem to be articulated in later life and the model of cumulative advantage and disadvantage employed in much social gerontology. Following from such considerations, it explores both the connections and the disjunctions that exists between working and post working life. The chapter concludes with a consideration of how consumption and consumerism have grown in significance as markers of distinction and determinants of difference, not just in later life but throughout the life course.