Socialists have traditionally regarded old people as intrinsically conservative with little role to play alongside the youth in the struggle for a future. CHRIS PHILLIPSON argues that this attitude must now change: the increasing proportion of elderly people in the population and the miserable conditions in which they live under capitalism demand that socialists develop demands and strategies for their emancipation.
The ageing of Britain's population is raising major issues for the theory and practice of socialism. The number of people defined as elderly (ie women over 60 and men over 65) has increased this century from 2.9 million in 1911 to 9.8 million in 1981. As a percentage of the United Kingdom's population this represents a change from 6.8 per cent to 17.7 per cent. Equally important is the exclusion of older people from work, a trend which has accelerated during the present economic crisis.
For working class people, growing old aggravates life-long problems of low income, poor housing and inadequate health care. Today, just over one in four elderly people have incomes at or below the poverty line and nearly half have neither a telephone nor a car. A substantial number live in property built before the first world war.
Severe poverty may leave the individual vulnerable to a range of social and medical conditions. During the winter of 1981-1982, it was estimated that one in 10 older people could experience dangerously low body temperatures. One GP claimed — at the height of the winter freeze — that cold-related deaths had risen to 700 a day. He also claimed that he had been refused official figures on deaths from the cold because his campaigning on the subject was proving an embarrassment. In terms of broader conditions of care, a past president of the British Medical Association commented in October 1981 that some old people were being treated in accommodation that would have been considered useful for 'dogs, cats or race horses 20 years ago'. Another doctor has suggested that waiting lists are now so long that 75 per cent of psychogeriatric patients die before they can be admitted to hospital.
These warnings have unsurprisingly made little impact on the Thatcher government. In an interview in the magazine Social Work Today in October 1979, Patrick Jenkin (then Secretary of State for Social Services) was asked: 'You would put defence spending as a higher priority above the elderly, the infirm and other disadvantaged?' Jenkin: 'Of course. If we did not defend ourselves with the three per cent growth target which is the NATO target to which we are committed, then whether it is the elderly, the mentally handicapped or the ill, or Uncle Tom Cobley and all, our lives would be at great peril.' SWT: 'You personally believe in that?' Jenkin: 'Yes, of course I do.'
Growing Old Under Capitalism
Many of the problems faced by elderly people must be related to the influence of capitalism on the experience of old age. To view later life as a period where the biological process of ageing assumes a primary role is to ignore the cumulative power and significance of life in a class society. Similarly, the form which experiences in retirement take (tensions in the transition from work to retirement and poverty in old age) are not a consequence of individual characteristics or the process of ageing, but reflect the numerous forms of inequality within capitalism; the ideologies of retirement and the care of the elderly within homes and hospitals are examples of the way in which growing old is constructed through a range of policies imposed upon the older population. Two examples might be used to illustrate this point in more detail. Many of [illegible] women in old age appear to mark a radical break from their previous way of life. The death of partners, the mobility of families and the impact of chronic illness, appear to confirm old age as a period of loss and abandonment. The contribution made by social institutions (the family apart) to this experience, has rarely been considered in studies examining the problems of elderly people. On the contrary, social institutions are often depicted as powerless in the face of demographic pressure.
I would argue, however, that the role they play and the ideologies they hold about older women have a major influence. Many of the problems women face are not due to the effects of physical ageing or due to the shock of losing a partner, but due to the restricted opportunities available to them after they have performed their productive/reproductive roles. These restrictions are compounded via the low income and sex role conditioning which women bring into old age. Discrimination during working life results in women being less able than men to receive an occupational pension. The impact of widowhood is particularly severe (in 1975, 48 per cent of widows were living at or below the supplementary benefit level). Women may also experience removal to a home or hospital where their basic rights and freedoms are denied. Indeed, the fact that women outnumber men in old people's homes may itself explain the low standards of care and privacy: degradation on the 'inside' reflecting dominant beliefs about the role of women and of elderly women in particular.
The impact of capitalism may also be seen when we examine the question of retirement. It is common to see this period as representing a major crisis for the individual, with many people expressing a sense of 'loss' and 'regret' at being denied access to their previous employment. This is certainly an important issue for some individuals and the rights of older workers is an important area for debate within the labour movement. However, the reason why retirement leads to a period of crisis must be related to the characteristics of wage labour under capitalism. Thus, people have their working lives shaped by the division between mental and manual labour, the experience of alienation within the work place, and the progressive fragmentation of the labour process. At the point of retirement, the worker experiences a major contradiction between a retirement ideology which urges activity and participation and the conditions of wage labour which have denied her/him adequate financial support for old age and access to a range of skills which can be transferred into retirement. This process is reinforced by the management of retirement during periods of economic crisis. Viewed historically, we find the development of compulsory retirement on the one hand, and on the other, attempts to circumvent the retirement age, either in terms of encouraging people to remain longer at work or to retire early.
Thus, despite the emergence of a fixed retirement age, there has remained a flexible policy over when it is socially acceptable to retire. One outcome of this process has been the emergence of older people as a reserve of labour. In periods of slump, they are likely to be drawn out of the labour market more quickly than other groups (particularly unskilled and semi-skilled older workers); in periods of labour shortage, the justification for retiring and becoming a 'non-producing consumer' may be questioned as part of a campaign to call-back or retain people in the labour force. The possibility of older people acting as a reserve of labour expresses in economic terms a historical consistency in attitudes towards the elderly. This amounts to an ambivalence regarding how far older people have a right to share and enjoy material resources without being engaged in full or part-time work. In British society, the growth in the number of elderly people has created dilemmas over the distribution of resources. Unlike children, the elderly will play no further role in production: they consume with no prospect of producing. That they have spent the bulk of their lives creating wealth is ignored. In social policy terms they are viewed as an economic burden, a group for whom financial support must be strictly rationed and controlled.
The Left and Old Age
The Left in this country has generally regarded older people as conservative and apathetic, disinterested in challenging their inferior economic and social position. Ageing itself is seen to 'explain' political indifference, a move to the political right being viewed as a 'natural' part of growing old. There are, however, alternative ways of analysing old people's apparent conservatism. Why it is that past experiences become so important for the elderly. Is it simply through the physical and psychological side-effects of ageing? Or is it a consequence of insecurities in the individual's present life? If older people sometimes seem authoritarian and racist (although these characteristics are surely shared with other groups) might this not arise through the pressure associated with having a standard of living some 20 years behind the rest of the population? Low income, poor housing and deteriorating public services, cause feelings of great bitterness amongst pensioners. In some cases this resentment acts as a spur to political action. But more often it leads to a sense of betrayal, of rejection by a labour movement whose activities and goals no longer reflect their own experiences of life. In this respect, the elderly represent a group of trade unionists who no longer have a trade union. Old people may not lose their identities as workers, but the insecurities of old age can lead to significant changes in consciousness. Although still supportive of labour at one level, many older people become hostile to groups who appear to be damaging their material interests.
The problem here is one of access to alternative explanations. Older people spend more of their time at home and mix less with other people than other age groups. They therefore become more reliant on the media for interpretations of political issues and disputes. This reliance itself may reinforce their isolation and lack of involvement. The social and economic pressures on elderly people indicate the importance of support from socialist and trade union bodies. However, there are other arguments for making work with the elderly a greater priority.
First, the development of an ageing population creates a source of differentiation within the working class. The distinction between a 'worker' being 'retired' is given considerable emphasis by the state; the expansion of early retirement schemes is a significant part of state strategy in the current recession. Even more important is the danger of divisions being fostered between workers and pensioners. This is highlighted during major strikes, where cynical appeals about the suffering of the old are now commonplace. Of course, we know that the crisis of old age is experienced on a daily basis, reflecting as it does, major contradictions within capitalism. However, the implications of this argument must be turned into radical policies which can be supported by elderly people.
Secondly, retirement is now a major period in the life-cycle, one which the individual experiences for 20 years or more of her/his life. This is giving rise to a new range of political, economic and cultural demands which may affect a transformation similar to that produced by the women's movement. Pensioners are beginning to demand both changes in their material status and in their position as a subordinate social group. The argument for freedom from stereotypes of ageing may become as politically and morally compelling as existing slogans in the struggle for women's liberation (indeed, given that the bulk of activists in pensioner groups are women, the two movements share much common ground).
Thirdly, we are already seeing the formulation of political demands by a number of pensioner groups. In fact, the emergence of such groups dates back to the 1930s, when working class pensioners mounted a number of campaigns to improve the basic pension. During the 1960s and 1970s, older people, stimulated by a rise in social and political activism, have themselves formed more radical groups. In America, the Grey Panthers organisation is a militant group which campaigns against all forms of age discrimination. Campaigns have been mounted on a range of economic and social issues: full employment, national health care, housing and mandatory retirement. In Britain, the emergence of the British Pensioners' Trade Union Action Association (BPTUAA), has been particularly important. The growth of this organisation has been quite rapid and it now has fifty regions and branches. An important aspect of its work has been to develop links with trade unions at local, regional and national levels. This relationship has had practical benefits in the current crisis over welfare expenditure, pensioners being involved in struggles to prevent the closure of hospitals, homes for the elderly and charges for home helps.
Political Demands for Old Age
Where the Left has raised the issue of old age, it has usually concentrated solely on the area of state pensions. However, from our analysis we can trace a range of both immediate and transitional demands in relation to the elderly. A starting point for the former comes from the list of minimum demands put forward in the BPTUAA Pensioners' Charters. Amongst the demands we find:
1. A state pension of 75 per cent average industrial male gross earnings (for a married couple); 50 per cent for a single pensioner.
2. Guaranteed housing standards and services in the home.
3. Pensioner power in decision-making (for example on relevant local authority committees).
4. Immediate implementation of the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act.
5. Staff reductions and the closure of hospitals to end immediately.
6. Access to a range of educational and leisure opportunities.
7. Public transport authorities to ensure that transport facilities meet the needs of the elderly infirm.
Since the preparation of the Charter, the effect of public expenditure cuts has made collaboration between the Left and pensioner organisations increasingly urgent. Following the election of the Thatcher government, older people have experienced a deterioration in a range of vital services. These cuts have placed a major strain both on staff in residential homes and daughters attempting to care for an elderly patient. Already, the effect of the cuts have led one union branch (Birmingham NUPE) to protest at the excessive use of drugs to control patients who are receiving inadequate care — because of staff shortages.
This situation is likely to worsen given the projected growth in the very elderly (those 75 plus) and the Tory commitment to dismantle huge chunks of the welfare state. A recent discussion document by Oxford's Regional Medical Officer asks: 'How can treatment and care be rationed (my emphasis) among the elderly to a level well below that which with its many deficiencies, now exists?' A discussion paper from the government's 'think tank' has raised the possibility of the NHS being replaced by private health insurance and of ending the rise of social security payments (including pensions) in line with inflation. The need for a clear socialist response has never been greater.
Another important issue which the Left needs to tackle concerns the enormous power wielded by pension funds. Some key questions here are: how to increase access to the investment decisions made by these funds? how to develop alternative investment strategies for the wealth controlled by the funds? how to use pension fund money to meet the social needs of employees?
In terms of transitional demands, a number of areas can be identified. We must begin to challenge the use of older people as a reserve of labour, to be expelled or retained in the labour force according to the needs of the economic system. On the one hand, the rights of older people who wish to remain in work should be safeguarded. However, the right to a secure retirement should also be placed on the agenda. This period will require a massive extension in educational and cultural facilities. Elderly people should have the right to attend — without charge — classes and seminars at colleges and universities; they should also have the right to determine a range of educational programmes suitable to their particular needs. This development would encourage a movement away from the age barriers characteristic of a capitalist society, barriers which are highly destructive to unity within the labour movement.
Pensioners must also be supported in their desire to take control of the ageing process. At present, and in numerous ways, capitalism undermines the individual's control over major areas of later life: for example, via the over-prescribing of drugs, the denial of health facilities and the experience of poverty. This process undermines the resistance of many people, causing them to feel useless and rejected. Unfortunately, instead of focusing their anger on the capitalist economy, many pensioners view their plight as part a natural process of ageing for which nobody is to blame. There is, however, nothing natural about poverty, bad housing or inadequate health care. These are social phenomena which result in much distress and suffering amongst the elderly. A major demand must be for pensioners (particularly those from the working class) to take control of the appropriate economic and political resources which can transform the experience and expectations which people have about growing old.
Finally, the ageing of the population reinforces the view that social needs should dominate priorities within the economy. Factories need to produce a wide range of goods to enable the disabled to be active within the community; new transportation systems will be required to meet the needs of a less physically mobile population; socially induced conditions such as hypothermia will need radical changes in the field of housing and heating (eg free gas and electricity to groups such as pensioners).
The range of demands emerging from older people is clearly going beyond anything which capitalism can satisfy: the yearly debate about hypothermia illustrates this in the most poignant fashion. While profit remains the driving force of the system, it is inconceivable that the demands for items such as meals-on-wheels and help for the blind will be adequately met.
Socialism and Old Age
Briefly, in conclusion, it is worth asking ourselves what socialism could provide for old people. In relation to retirement, unlike the present system of compulsion, individuals would be able to retire in line with their own capacities and state of health. Moreover, with a radical change in the division of labour, there would be a progressive reduction in the amount of time people spent in jobs harmful to people's health. This policy, together with other improvements in the standard of living of working class people, should help to correct the wide inequalities in life expectancy whereby today a manual worker in social class V has a mortality rate 26 per cent higher than the national average.
Secondly, in contrast to existing 'socialist' societies, the nuclear family would no longer be the central unit of social life. The ageing of the population reinforces the general need for a variety of living units, a move which requires equal diversity and creativity in collective provision.
Thirdly, a socialist social policy would be built around democratic structures, through which elderly people determined both the shape and character of financial and social service provision. These structures would encourage non-bureaucratic, non-sexist and non-ageist relationships. For the first time in history, people would grow old without, at the same time, experiencing old age as an economic and social stigma.
Fourthly, in old age, people would retain a range of political, educational and cultural commitments. At the present time, the poverty of many elderly people combined with the negative stereotypes attached to growing old, hinders their social participation. In a socialist society, old age would represent a continuation of life-long interests and ambitions, free of daily commitments to work.
Finally, these changes would take place within a positive commitment to supporting older people and a rejection of views which represent them as an economic burden. In our society, old age is a period which many people still fear, in part because of the social pressures which they experience. The first priority of a socialist society must be to remove this fear. A man of 70 can expect to live for another nine years and a women for twelve. They cannot wait too long for socialism to be achieved.
CHRIS PHILLIPSON is a researcher in old age and retirement at Keele University. His book Capitalism and the Construction of Old Age, some of whose themes are developed in this article, is published by Macmillan on 11 November [illegible].
1. The Sunday Times, 10 January, 1982
2. The Guardian, 23 October, 1981.
3. Ibid.
4. Social Work Today, Vol 13, No. 48, 1982.
5. The Health Services, 15 October, 1982.
6. The Economist, 18 September, 1982.