In this issue. STRUGGLES AND EXPERIENCES highlights the campaigns developed by older people against ageism. We begin with a short introduction to the American Gray Panthers movement.This is followed by extracts from a talk given in Britain by Maggie Kuhn, the founder and national convenor of the group, Finally, there is an article by Mike Maclean examining the struggle against ageism in Britain and Canada.
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References
1.
Pensioners are formally defined in the United Kingdom as women aged 60 and over and men aged 65 and over as per Hansard, 8 February, 1985 , cited in S. Ward, 'The future of pensions', Critical Social Policy conference, London, April 1985; in Canada, pensioners are defined as those women and men aged 65 and over.
2.
This analysis could apply to any capitalist country but this paper will focus on the United Kingdom and Canada because the author has had personal experience working with pensioners in these two countries.
3.
The author works with such an extended care institution in Canada that has approximately 300 residents.
4.
In the United Kingdom, approximately 6 per cent of pensioners live in institutions such as residential homes, psychiatric hospitals and other hospitals (Bornat et al, A manifesto for old age, London, Pluto Press, 1985); in Canada, approximately 6 per cent of those aged 65 and older are in institutional care (Stone, L. & Fletcher, S. A profile of Canada's older population, Montreal, Institute for Research on Public Policy, 1980).
5.
Growing older, Department of Health and Social Security, HMSO, 1981; Stone and Fletcher, 1980.
6.
Growing older, Department of Health and Social Security, HMSO, 1981.
7.
Burns, B. and Phillipson, C.Drugs, Ageing and Society: Social and Pharmacological Perspectives, London, Croom Helm, 1986.
8.
Leonard, P.Personality and ideology: Towards a materialist understanding of the individual , London, MacMillan Press, 1984.
9.
In the United Kingdom, women aged 60 and over and men aged 65 and over are eligible for the State Retirement Pension; in Canada, women and men are eligible for Old Age Security payments at age 65 years.
10.
Widows aged 50 and over do receive a widow's pension but this is based on the dual criteria of age and widowhood.
11.
Walker, A. 'Dependency and old age,' Social Policy & Administration1982, 16, pp. 115-135.
12.
Comment by Jack Jones to a group of pensioners at the GLC Christmas presentation at the Royal Festival Hall, London, December 1984.
13.
Personal commumcation to the author by a member of Tooting Action for Pensioners.
14.
Tooting Action for Pensioners contribution to BBC programme, Coming of Age (1985); film Retired - Not Out by the pensioners' student group, Polytechnic of North London, 1985.
15.
Budget in brief, Department of Finance, Canada, May 1985.
16.
Toronto Globe & Mail, 8 June 1985, p. 1.
17.
Bornat et al, A manifesto for old age, London, Pluto Press, 1985
18.
; Phillipson, C.Capitalism and the construction of old age, London, MacMillan Press, 1983
19.
; Shragge, E. & Maclean, M. 'Canadian pension policy: A critical analysis', Canadian Social Work Review, 1983, 1, pp. 52-68
20.
; Walker, A. 'Conscription on the cheap: Old workers and the state', Critical Social Policy, 1984, 4, 2, pp. 103-110
21.
; Willcocks, D. 'Security with independence: A socialist alternative for old age', Critical Social Policy conference, London, Apnl 1985
22.
; Phillipson, C. and Walker, A.Ageing and Social Policy: Critical Perspectives, London , Gower, 1986.
