{"title":"Age and Downward Mobility: From the Poorhouse to the Present","authors":"David Wagner","doi":"10.1080/10428232.2021.1907701","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT This article provides an overview of the problem of poverty and downward mobility for the elderly in the United States from the 19th Century to today. Using the author’s research with the history of poorhouses (also known as poor farms, workhouses, almshouses, and later county homes and hospitals) he describes the situation of many older people as they faced poverty, family estrangement, personal loss, and medical problems. Looking to provide a brief comparison to our past and current situation, Wagner summarizes a set of statistics about the elderly in the 21st century including low income, low savings for retirement, and lack of adequate health care to suggest that while there have been a few improvements, on the whole a majority of elderly people face the same and similar serious issues as did our forerunners.","PeriodicalId":44255,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Progressive Human Services","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.3000,"publicationDate":"2021-04-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/10428232.2021.1907701","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Progressive Human Services","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10428232.2021.1907701","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"SOCIAL WORK","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
ABSTRACT This article provides an overview of the problem of poverty and downward mobility for the elderly in the United States from the 19th Century to today. Using the author’s research with the history of poorhouses (also known as poor farms, workhouses, almshouses, and later county homes and hospitals) he describes the situation of many older people as they faced poverty, family estrangement, personal loss, and medical problems. Looking to provide a brief comparison to our past and current situation, Wagner summarizes a set of statistics about the elderly in the 21st century including low income, low savings for retirement, and lack of adequate health care to suggest that while there have been a few improvements, on the whole a majority of elderly people face the same and similar serious issues as did our forerunners.
期刊介绍:
The only journal of its kind in the United States, the Journal of Progressive Human Services covers political, social, personal, and professional problems in human services from a progressive perspective. The journal stimulates debate about major social issues and contributes to the development of the analytical tools needed for building a caring society based on equality and justice. The journal"s contributors examine oppressed and vulnerable groups, struggles by workers and clients on the job and in the community, dilemmas of practice in conservative contexts, and strategies for ending racism, sexism, ageism, heterosexism, and discrimination of persons who are disabled and psychologically distressed.