Age segregation is the separation of people
based on their age, and may be observed in
many aspects of some societies.
Examples of institutionalized age segregation
include age segregation in schools, and age-segregated
housing.There are studies of informal age
segregation among adolescents.
Age segregation in schools, age grading, or
graded education is the separation of students
into years of education (grades, forms) by
approximately the same age.
In the United States, graded education was
introduced during 1848 to 1870.Age segregation
in the U.S. was a product of industrialization,
Western formal schooling, child labor laws,
social services agencies, and the rise of
disciplines such as psychology and education.
A combination of these caused a shift from
family working as a unit to separation of
economic activities and childcare emerged.
Some communities have different cultural practices
and integrate children into mature activities
of the family and community.
This is common among Indigenous American communities.
Age segregation is seen by some like Peter
Uhlenberg and Jenny Gierveld to benefit individuals
by bringing like-minded individuals together
to share similar facilities, network and information.
The elderly are however disadvantaged by segregation
in that they risk being excluded from economic
and social developments.
== Effects of Age Segregation ==
Researchers have argued that age grading in
school has significant impact on age segregation
among adolescent peer groups.
It is also present in the work force, which
can make it more difficult for older adults
to find jobs or change employment paths because
of their age.
They are often either expected to have a significantly
larger background of experience in the field,
or be far enough away from retirement to be
considered.
Although seen less in younger adults and children,
there is evidence that younger populations
segregate within themselves.
Until around ages 7 and 8, children tend to
only associate with people within 2 years
of their own age.
Children mostly segregate from adults, showing
less adult interaction as they move into their
teenage and young adult years.
Studies suggest that the gap in age segregation
will grow because of technological knowledge
seen in younger adults that is not seen in
older adults.
It is predicted that younger adults will have
to teach older adults about new social environments
that will be essential to healthy living.
Without these teachings, age segregation is
set to increase.Some of the prospects for
designing social life to overcome the entrenched
practices of age segregation and the cultural
assumptions through the life course is through
a steady flock of opportunities for cross-age
interaction, some settings facilitate age-integrated
social relations.
The most distinguished example is the family,
in which children, parents, and grandparents
frequently develop close cross-age relationships.
Age relations within families vary across
cultures and subcultures.
According to Uhlenberg and Gierveld, many
lower class black families in the United States
have high levels of interaction with kin,
and older adults.
This often provides significant care for younger
members in the neighborhood.
== By country ==
=== Singapore ===
A statistical analysis of survey data of a
survey data for 390 elderly people living
in studio apartments found that age-segregation
have a humongous impact on the quality of
life of the elderly people because the perception
of the elderly in relation to factors that
are most outstanding to their quality of life
is at variance with that of the policy makers.
=== United States of America ===
In the United States some portions of a person's
life involves being with the same age cohort.
Industrialization brought an increased specialization
of all kinds, and age was an important category
used to sort people.
Society expected teachers to be experts on
a particular age group, family members to
specialize in different kinds of work, and
people to move through major life roles in
a fixed pattern.
The work force involvement of older women
and men declined, and it was replaced by leisure
retirement.
Martin Kohli argues that over the length of
the twentieth century, age was enormously
used to assign people to or prohibit them
from particular activities.
The result was a tendency toward a firmly
fixed life course.
According to Riley and Riley, this tendency
toward age-segregated structures began to
approximate the age-differentiated "ideal
type" structure in which people gain their
education when young, work in middle-age,
and enjoy their well-earned leisure time when
they are old.
Age-based grades, teams, jobs, and leisure
activities seemed normal; people were expected
to spend major portions of their days and
lives with people of their own age.In a 2010
article for Perspectives on Psychological
Science, authors Rogoff et al state that age-segregated
housing can hold some advantages for the elderly
such as a higher chance of having more things
in common with their peers.
This segregation can also decrease their involvement
with societies that are preoccupied with the
desirability of youth and give them the ability
to discuss their fears of death and the frequent
deaths of others.
Some retirement villages are heavily secured,
which can give the elders a sense of safety
and protection.
An older person is more likely to be noticed
in an age segregated community if he or she
is in need of help.
The elderly people living in such a community
also receive lower rates because of the quantity
of similar goods and services needed by their
communities.
Some of the disadvantages of age-segregated
housing are isolation from mainstream society,
preventing older people from sharing wisdom
and experiences with younger people and leading
old people to have restricted sets of friendships
and neighbors.
In some elderly people age-segregated housing
can contribute to low morale and feelings
of uselessness and rejection.
== References ==
