ABSTRACT

This chapter examines who it is that identifies older people as a social problem, and explores the basis of the social construction of older people as a potentially influential force in politics. There are some advocates raising the prospect of older people using the ballot box to force politicians to address their issues. Those people advocating the rights of older people have a clear interest in maximising the political leverage that increased numbers might bring. There are others who raise warnings about the threat of militant pensioners to governmental fiscal propriety. Although the nature of the problem and possible solutions are contested political issues, in the 1990s in Britain and the US it has become a commonplace notion that society is facing a crisis over an ageing population. At the centre of any discussion about politics and old age, there is a growing debate about the proper role of the state in providing income security and healthcare for its citizens.