Nancy Morrow-Howell, James Hinterlong and Michael Sherraden , Productive Aging: Concepts and Challenges. - Eds - book review

Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare, Sept, 2002

Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2001. $48 hardcover.

Social attitudes and behaviors towards aging have varied enormously over different historical periods and between different societies and cultures. In Western societies during the 20th, attitudes towards aging were characterized by the view that the elderly are a burden on society and that special services were needed to care for them. Demographers spoke gloomily of the high `dependency ratios' in these countries which required high government expenditures and the intolerable burden dependency placed on younger working people. These themes have been reiterated in recent debates about the privatization of social security. The payment of income support, the demands on the health care system and the widespread use of residential care to house elderly people all contributed to the high costs of aging.

Gradually, these views have been challenged. As many more people live longer lives, it has been realized that aging is not inevitably accompanied by frailty, dependency and financial need but that many elderly people continue to live in their own homes, are well integrated into the community and enjoy excellent health. It has also been recognized that many continue to be economically productive by working not only as employees (both full-time and part-time), but as self-employed entrepreneurs and as volunteers in many different organizations. Many continue to manage their investments actively seeking to maximize economic returns. These examples reveal that many elderly people are not economically dependent but that they participate in the economy as productive citizens and contribute positively to economic development.

As the editors of this interesting collection reveal, the term `productive aging' was coined at a gerontological meeting in Salzburg, Austria in 1982 and it has since been closely associated with the work of Robert Butler, former head of the National Institute of aging, and one of the participants at the seminar. Butler and his colleagues have been tireless advocates for the `normalization' of aging and for the creation of opportunities for elderly people to continue to participate as economically productive members of society. This edited collection extends on this work by examining the concept of productive aging in the light of related concepts such as successful aging, healthy aging and meaningful aging.

By exploring the use of the term, its historical evolution, conceptual implications, biological, psychological, sociological and economic dimensions, the book offers a systematic and definitive account of the concept of productive aging. Its scope is ambitious but it succeeds admirably. Nor is it an uncritical advocate of this normative implications of the notion of productive aging. Indeed, in an important chapter, Carol Estes and Jane Mahakian examine some of the political ramifications of the idea that elderly people should be productive and self-sufficient. The book makes an important contribution, not only to the gerontological literature, but to wider debates in social welfare about self-sufficiency and dependency. Its significance for the formulation of a developmental or social investment approach is obvious. It deserves to be widely read.