The image of two people in panama hats boating on a sparkling stretch of water on the cover of this book exemplifies the complexities encompassed in examining social class in old age. It begs the question about the factors that contribute to the quality of life in old age of which class, this book argues, is a factor. As money is usually necessary to taking a boating holiday on sunshine-drenched seas, are we meant to see these two people as well-off and middle class? Would an alternative image showing older people at a bingo hall make us think they were poor and working class? Through exploring the changing nature of class and the varying influencing factors, these images are shown to be both a true and false representation of social class and ageing today.
The ten chapters that make up this book offer a balance of theory, research and policy on a topic rarely discussed. They address individual, community, collective, national and international perspectives and relationships. The purpose of this collection is to understand how inequalities persist and endure over the lifetime, to reflect on how class relations continue to influence later life, whether ‘new’ classes emerge during retirement, and to reach new understandings that could inform future policy. Questions are raised about social mobility in later life; whether class is a fixed state; and the basis on which older people are categorised.
‘Class’ is acknowledged as difficult to define. Several of the authors discuss how studies of society have moved away from a Marxist class analysis which dominated early sociological study, to analyses which cut across class divisions, such as gender, race, sexuality and disability. As older people were mainly not in paid work, they were invisible from the traditional class analysis. Bottero's chapter is excellent in capturing the arguments for re-thinking ‘class’ in a post-industrial world. While a greater emphasis is still placed on economic resources, occupation and economic inequalities, factors such as lifestyle inequalities, cultural resources and social connections have gained and continue to gain importance. Additionally, Bottero draws out the corollary shift away from the collective class group and endeavours, to society with more individualised interest. An interesting addition to the theoretical chapters is Hyde and Rees Jones' incorporation of the experiences of older people.
A class perspective is offered on some of the major debates facing an ageing society today – typically longer and healthier lifespans and the consequences of this in terms of income/pensions and care. The research and policy sections of the book focus on income and poverty and their impact on health and care in later life. Storelli and Williamson offer a substantial chapter on pensions worldwide. Victor's comprehensive chapter on care shows how care support for and by families crosses the class divide, indicating how income becomes a major determinant in the quantity and quality of care an individual will receive in old age. Hafford-Letchfield's discussion of the role of social work mirrors some of the earlier debates on sociology in terms of an analysis of how different groups of people depend on the state for their support. The chapter moves into the discussion about the individualised approach to care – of personalisation and independent payments. Phillipson's chapter on globalisation seeks to add a further dimension in his discussion of changing patterns in social class.
The collection opens up as many questions as it offers discussion on. The ‘power’ element in the title possibly gets the least attention in this mostly stimulating collection of essays. The impact of the move from the traditional ‘manufacturing’ class grouping to more individualised occupations, and from a collective welfare services to ‘personalised’ services marks different types of power. Hyde and Rees Jones note the paucity of research drawing on older people's experience of class and the changes in later life. Cuts in adult education and leisure services will have affected many of those who hoped to take advantage of those activities for which they had no time during their working years and has widened the gap between classes in old age. Regardless of income, how older people are going to spend their time in good health is not addressed. More discussion on these areas would have provided a further thought-provoking dimension to this collection.
Social Class in Later Life offers new ways of looking at later life and demonstrates the complexity of the situation in which older people live, how they can exert control or power over their own lives, even if not over the increasingly complex system in which we all live. There is also value here to provide another way of exploring inequalities between generations and within the older population. Power appears to be becoming further removed from our grasp. The collective enterprise of this book exposes the difficulties of defining class today and what it means in old age. A happy consequence is the stream of possible areas for research – including defining class, how to measure the impact of class on old age and how to understand power in old age.
