Ageing and Ethnicity Paper Example

Introduction

The demographic composition of Europe and western nations is slowly changing as a consequence of ethnicity and ageing. The overall ageing of the population and the increasing rate of immigrants reaching the old age bracket, racial and other minority groups is now beginning to add to the fastest growing segmentation for the old generation across many European nations (Battu & Sloane, 2004). The recent influx of ageing population and the projected increase in the coming year's calls for the need to restructure, understand and reveal the diversity and heterogeneous nature of the ageing population, their experiences and their needs in the host nations. There is a need to emphasise on the importance of engagement on matters around ethnicity within the realm of ageing studies and sociology. The engagement should highlight more on increasing efforts to devote and undertake more research on the study of ethnicity and ageing population. Engagement should also seek to approach the issue of ageing and ethnicity through a critical eye with respect to how ethnic minority are conceptualised, represented and recognised (Wray, 2003). In the UK, there has been a change in the population from one that was dominated by white, young, culturally British and Christians, to an entirely new populace comprised on different cultures, age-groups communities and doctrines from across the globe. The level of demographic diversity that is present at the moment would have been unimaginable in the middle of the last century and has become part of the British lifestyle. It is for this reason that ageing and ethnicity evokes numerous political, legal and theoretical debates on how the government can promote diversity. This paper highlights the concept of ageing and ethnicity in contemporary British society and prevailing diversity issues.

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Successful Ageing

Gerontologists have shifted their attention from the traditional pathologically disabled elders to the contemporary successful agers. Successful ageing in this context involves later life with fewer diseases, high cognitive ability and strong physique. Currently, many researchers have accumulated practical evidence that supports the validity of successful ageing. According to this concept, there exists health and social interventions and initiative to facilitate successful ageing among elders. Achieving this requires a quality healthcare system, equal distribution of researches, and financial stability. Even though the idea around successful ageing has not been opposed, there exist critics in relation to its narrowly-defined principles, or ignorance of social constraints that limits the marginalised groups. The existing study on successful ageing reveals that there is variation is the successful implementation of the concept. These are attributed to the skewed distribution of resources among the minority population (Szczepura, 2005). As a result, infectious diseases have been the primary cause of modalities for this population. At the moment, there still exists some marginalised communities where infectious diseases dominate due to segmentation based on race and ethnic affiliation. Whereas there is an advancement in health and lifestyle changes, the skewed allocation of resources has affected the positive lifestyle of the minority ethnic groups. The problem with this is that Black and minority ethnic (BME) group are linked with identity issues and for that reason have limited access to basic services for various reason attached to language differences, social isolation and inadequate cultural sensitisation. This, therefore, means that for the BME community to achieve the objectives of successful ageing in the coming years, there is a need for the government to promote inclusivity and cohesion in their national policies on socio-economic development (Brighton, 2007).

In sociology, power is the primary force that drives human interactions. Those with power, those affected by power and how this power is utilised provides the basis of understanding how ethnic groups interact. Even though it is complex to give a complete and tight definition of power, many scholars have defined it as the ability to take control of different resources. In the context of British demography, those with power are less dependent on others. The powerful in this case are the majority groups and with this asymmetric form of interdependence is created. It has become a social variable among the ageing population and other ethnic minority groups. Since power emanates from a particular set of social relations, it can transform psychological condition leading to the powerful taking control over the less dominant (Hoong, 2005). After the majority population has acquired power, influence and interdependency follow and this will dictate then control how resources are distributed. The BME groups in the UK have received poor quality medical services, are concentrated in urban areas and receive low pensionable income relative to the majority population.

One challenge that exists on the concept of old age is how individuals and societies define "old." The conventional method used has been on chronological age where one is validated as old at the age of 65 years. On the other hand, others define ageing on the basis of life events such as reaching menopause, being a parent or grandparent or when one retires. The ageing process is lifelong and involves maturation and dynamic progression on psychological and social levels. Much like ethnicity, class or race, age is hierarchical and has some levels that are more valuable than others (Warnes, 2006). For instance, children aspire to be independent, away from their parents and this makes age prejudice and be seen negatively. This can ultimately result in segregation between the ageing and young population at the cultural and societal level. In the UK, there has been a disproportionate distribution of resources among the old population. The ethnic minorities have suffered from chronic illnesses, old age-related disabilities and premature death. For this reason, they are perceived to age earlier compared to the White population. The social and healthcare disparities lead to an accelerated and detrimental ageing process. The UK has also been associated with different ethnic communities, located in different areas. As at the 2011 census, England and Wales were the most diverse regions where more than 40% of the population comprised of Asians, Black and other ethnic affiliation. The White British population dominated the south-east at 44 % of the population. Similarly, about 80 % of the British population preferred and resided in urban locations while only 18 % preferred rural areas. The ethnic groups that dominated the urban areas include Pakistan, Black African and Bangladeshi (Bond, 2017). This means that the British have one of the most ethnically diverse population with almost all ethnic groups distributed across British. Nevertheless, despite the prevailing ethnical diversity, there have been significant challenges that have affected their cohesion.

The concept of "ageing and ethnicity" in the contemporary UK is multifaceted with numerous discussions around immigrants maintaining links with families, the existing bond with the local and transnational community, education frameworks, and immigration policies. Its relationship with these fundamental topics means that the concept and the discussion that is employed is difficult to summarise easily (Panayi, 2014). This further relates to the difficulty in analysis both theoretically and practically. Relative to theory, 'ethnicity' is very emotive and should not be compared among the basic properties. All ethnic groups are equally significant within a society. With the existing ethnic groups in the UK, there is a needs to retains their individual identities while at the same time add to the element of colour as a whole. The idea ethnicity has been linked to mutual respect on the different facets of culture both minority and majority to create a polyethnic environment dominated with tolerance and cohesion.

Ageing and ethnicity discourse has given rise to political dilemmas which are dedicated to liberal democracy. The concept of liberal democracy in the UK has been grounded on political correspondence and traditionally protects individual and minority rights. At the same time, it has been fundamental for the formation of some majority rules which utilises the law to impose basic moral ethics (Putnam, 2007). The issues raised by ethnicity, therefore, requires public deliberation of the possible tension and anxiety. Similarly, other doctrines of liberalism such as state neutrality or religious liberty within the context of ethnicity can necessitate a backdrop of wide cultural parallelism where limited differences like gender or race can be traced. Since the traditional stories and customs of British liberal-democracy has been formulated on the context of a narrow ethnic diversity, the contemporary demographic composition affects how the majority interacts with the minority groups. There has been numerous debates and discussions since 2001 focusing on diverse groups based on observable tension in areas dominated by clear-cut minority/majority relations. This is because these areas are described as having a high degree of segregation of different ethnic affiliations from Muslims and non-Muslims to Black and minority ethnic (BME).

The existing research on diversity focuses on the connection between postcolonial migrants that originated from South Asia and the Caribbean and the dominant ethnic groups. The studies have a complex relationship of both tension and positive association within and among Black and minority ethnic (BME) groups (Panayi, 2014). The focus has recently changed course to the emerging patterns of immigrants from different ethnic groups and the development of super-diverse areas, a swing that has led to an increased critique of ideologies, policies, and systems on diversity (Hatton, 2005). Some critics have reacted against various events that have been reoccurring such as the riots and the terrorist attacks in the UK. The findings of the riots and terror attacks reveal that black and minority ethnic (BME) groups live 'parallel lives' dominated with lack of sufficient engagement with the majority population. The Older BME group has been interlinked with identity issues in the UK and are often limited to essential services for numerous reasons, including limited cultural sensitivity, social isolation, and language barriers. This means that government agencies need to establish sustainable cohesion initiative to address problems related to ethnicity (Brighton, 2007). Even though diversity policies in the UK have been blamed for the existing parallel lives and the increasing gaps between different ethnic affiliations, there is a need for cohesion to facilitate more interaction between minority groups and majority groups.

The existing policies on diversity have encouraged the concept of 'bonding social capital' as opposed to 'bridging social capital' within the population, supported by the cohesion agenda. Putnam (2007) claimed that the more diverse a community is, the more its people coexist and create a social capital bond. This concept has played a critical part in policy shift towards achieving a cohesive population in the UK, with a significant focus on the ethnic minorities to bridge the existing ethnic variations and skewed distribution of food among BME. The discourse on cohesion has been triggered by ethnic stance, relative to the tension experienced in the northern towns, particularly concerning the Muslim communities, and the increasing cultural polarisation. Whereas 'segregation and crisis approach' has been dominant in the pub...