Toward a gender politics of aging

The article proposes a Gender Politics of Aging approach to the study of aging societies. The approach recognizes the feminization of old age, ageism’s roots in sexist discourse, and the need to recognize the role of politics in driving demographic debates. Drawing together arguments from feminist gerontology and political demography, the article argues that the intersection of politics and gender must be considered if appropriate responses to an older, feminized demography are to be produced. I conclude that the work of aging feminists provides a rich vein of research and praxis from which a gender politics of aging approach can draw.     

人口老龄化与赡养问题的医学社会学分析

中国老人抚养问题不能只依靠家庭抚养，应逐渐转向社会抚养，即由家庭责任主体过渡到国家或社会责任主体。针对我国人口老龄化起步虽晚但发展速度却很快等特点，采用社会学方法对这一问题进行认真的统计，与其他国家进行比较和分析，很有现实意义。     

社区照顾：应对我国老龄化社会的城市养老新模式

解决未来我国城市社区养老问题是解决城市老龄化问题的关键。这里在深刻分析传统的城市家庭养老模式面临严峻挑战和院舍式养老所存在缺陷的基础上,提出应借鉴国外福利国家的“社区照顾”养老服务模式,作为应对我国未来城市老龄化养老问题的对策,以进一步推动我国城市社区养老社会化的发展,实现未来城市社会的“老有所养,老有所乐”。     

房价上涨对我国人口出生率的影响——基于省级面板数据的实证分析

人口数量和结构是影响我国可持续发展的关键因素,住房是人民群众安居乐业的刚需。近年来,我国人口出生率持续下降。为了实现经济高质量发展,缓解人口危机是当前亟待解决的重要问题。为了探究房价上涨对于我国人口出生率的影响,利用31个省级行政区2010—2019年的面板数据和加权最小二乘法进行实证分析,结果表明：房价上涨对人口出生率产生显著的负向影响,住房价格平均上涨1%将导致人口出生率下降0.13%~0.22%;房价上涨对人口出生率的影响在东部省份以挤出效应为主、在中西部省份是以财富效应为主。当前,通过遏制住房投资投机性需求、给予“刚需”人群购房贷款优惠、适量增加东部省份土地供给等手段,可以助力解决我国当前的人口问题。     

The Sandwich Generation: Dependency, Proximity, and Task Assistance Needs of Parents

This study was designed to determine the extent of sandwiched families and the impact of dependency and proximity to task assistance provided to parent(s). Data were collected in Idaho, Oregon, Utah, and Michigan from a random sample of 40–65-year-old respondents. Fifteen percent are sandwiched between needs of aging parents and financially dependent children. Respondents are much more likely to be providing assistance to mothers than fathers. Parents are most likely to live near, but not necessarily with, the respondent. Spouses and partners' parents, however, are likely to live farther away. Task assistance provided most often to aging parent(s) includes help with transportation and shopping; financial assistance was reported least often. Income of respondent and dependency and proximity of parents are significantly related to providing assistance to parents. This study offers a unique glimpse at the relationships between personal characteristics, dependency, proximity, and task assistance issues as they pertain to the sandwich generation.     

实施乡村振兴战略要防止的几种倾向

乡村振兴战略是要服务于中国建设社会主义现代化强国的目标,是要为建设中国社会主义现代化强国提供稳定的农村基础。 在不同阶段,乡村振兴战略的任务是不同的,尤其是 2035 年之前和2035—2050 年的乡村振兴战略应该是差异极大的。 2035—2050 年的目标是全面乡村振兴,2035 年之前则是为乡村全面振兴打基础的阶段。 没有中国现代化的基本实现,就没有全面振兴乡村的物质基础。乡村振兴战略必须分阶段实施。 当前学界、政策部门、地方实践部门在解读乡村振兴战略时普遍误解了乡村振兴战略的实施阶段性特征,有急于求成的倾向。     

Reconfigured Reciprocity: How Aging Taiwanese Immigrants Transform Cultural Logics of Elder Care

Drawing on 55 interviews with older Taiwanese immigrants who relocated to the United States at an earlier life stage, the author argues that changing contextual features involved in the processes of international migration encourage and even demand aging immigrants to reconstruct cultural logics of aging and geriatric care. He develops the concept of reconfigured reciprocity to demonstrate how aging migrant populations transform cultural logics of intergenerational responsibility, obligation, and entitlement to reconcile the tension between ethnic tradition and modernity. First, he reveals how many of the respondents' lack of caregiving for their own parents undermines their sense of entitlement to receive care from younger generations. Furthermore, he highlights how the structural squeeze among work, family, and caregiving with which the younger generation struggles further discourages the respondents from relying on their children. Finally, the author underscores how aging immigrants evoke the concept of Americanization to reconstruct expectations of how they should be taken care of in their twilight years.     

Developing Age-Friendly Cities: Case Studies From Brussels and Manchester and Implications for Policy and Practice

Developing environments responsive to the aspirations of older people has become a major concern for social and public policy. Policies and programs directed at achieving “age-friendly” communities are considered to require a wide range of interventions, including actions at the level of the social and physical environment. This article compares the age-friendly approaches of two European cities, Brussels and Manchester, with a particular focus on policies and initiatives that promote active aging in an urban context. The article examines, first, the demographic, social, and multicultural contexts of Brussels and Manchester; second, the way in which both cities became members of the World Health Organization Global Network of Age-Friendly Cities and Communities; third, similarities and differences in the age-friendly approaches and actions adopted by both cities; and fourth, opportunities and barriers to the implementation of age-friendly policies. The article concludes by discussing the key elements and resources needed to develop age-friendly cities.     

A general long-term aging model with different underlying activation mechanisms: Modeling,Bayesian estimation,and case influence diagnostics

In this paper we propose a general cure rate aging model. Our approach enables different underlying activation mechanisms which lead to the event of interest. The number of competing causes of the event of interest is assumed to follow a logarithmic distribution. The model is parameterized in terms of the cured fraction which is then linked to covariates. We explore the use of Markov chain Monte Carlo methods to develop a Bayesian analysis for the proposed model. Moreover, some discussions on the model selection to compare the fitted models are given, as well as case deletion influence diagnostics are developed for the joint posterior distribution based on the ψ-divergence, which has several divergence measures as particular cases, such as the Kullback–Leibler (K-L), J-distance, L₁ norm, and χ²-square divergence measures. Simulation studies are performed and experimental results are illustrated based on a real malignant melanoma data.     

The impact of age,BMI and sex hormone on aging males’ symptoms and the international index of erectile function scores

Objective: To analyze the impact of age, BMI and sex hormone on aging males’ symptoms (AMS) and the 5-item version of the international index of erectile function (IIEF-5) scores in middle-aged and elderly Chinese men.

Methods: A population-based cross-sectional study was conducted in Jiashan County. A total of 969 men, aged between 40 and 80 years old, were admitted. Physical examination and the sex hormones were measured, and AMS and IIEF-5 scores were assessed.

Results: The oneway ANOVA analysis indicated older age groups had higher AMS total-scores, somatic and sexual sub-scores, and lower IIEF5 scores (all p?r_pairwise) analyses showed the significant associations between AMS and age or sex hormone (cFT, Bio-T, SHBG, and LH) levels, and similar for IIEF5. However, when age was adjusted, the correlation coefficients (r_partial) weakened, and correlation significance disappeared, except LH (for AMS: r_partial?=?0.096, p?=?.009; for IIEF-5: r_partial?= ?0.140, p?=?.001). Multiple linear regressions confirmed the influence of increased age and LH on the AMS and IIEF5 scores.

Conclusion: CFT, Bio-T and SHBG failed to yield any additional predicting information when age was adjusted. To improve the male reproductive health, future research should pay more attention on aging-related comorbidities and how to improve general wellness.