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Aging and cumulative inequality: how does inequality get under the skin?
Kenneth F Ferraro1, Tetyana Pylypiv Shippee
1Center on Aging and the Life Course, Purdue University, Young Hall, West Lafayette, IN 47907-2108, USA. ferraro@purdue.edu
The Gerontologist
|April 21, 2009
Summary
This study introduces cumulative inequality (CI) theory to aging research, explaining how early life disadvantages shape adult health trajectories. It highlights how resources and agency can modify these lifelong health inequalities.
Area of Science:
- Social gerontology
- Life course studies
- Sociology of health
Background:
- Cumulative disadvantage theory explains how early life inequalities persist and accumulate over the life course.
- Life course theory emphasizes the importance of timing, duration, and sequence of life events in shaping health outcomes.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a new theoretical framework for the social scientific study of aging.
- Integrate cumulative inequality (CI) theory into gerontological research.
Main Methods:
- Articulated five axioms of cumulative inequality (CI) theory.
- Examined how life course trajectories are influenced by accumulated inequalities.
- Considered the modifying roles of resources, perceived trajectories, and human agency.
Main Results:
- CI theory offers a framework to integrate diverse disciplinary approaches in aging research, including biology, epidemiology, and immunology.
- Demonstrated the applicability of CI theory to gerontology through research on the early origins of adult health.
Conclusions:
- CI theory emphasizes family lineage, early life (genes, gestation, childhood) as critical sources of enduring inequalities.
- Highlights the importance of the onset, duration, and magnitude of exposures to risk and opportunity.
- Addresses limitations of cohort-centric studies in gerontology.
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