Modernization and Status of the Aged: International Correlations

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Abstract
This paper is concerned with the relationship between modernization and the status of the aged in a society. The analysis includes 31 countries with available data. Indicators of modernization are gross national product per capita, percentage of labor force in agriculture, change in percentage of labor force in agriculture, percentage literate, percentage of youths in school, and percentage of population in higher education. Status of the aged is measured by the Equality Index for employment, occupation, and education. It is concluded that employment status does decline steadily with the shift from agriculture, but that occupation and education status have a J-shaped relationship to modernization. Employment status also has a strong J-shaped relationship to gross national product. It is suggested that as societies move beyond a transitional stage of rapid modernization, discrepancies between the aged and non-aged decrease and the relative status of the aged may rise.

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