Stereotypes Of Retirement In The United States

Retirement can be perceived as a time that a person gets to do as they please; increased leisure time to fit in all their activities. Also, many people downsize and moving into an owner-occupier retirement community. However, the negative side of retirement is that some individuals may start to suffer health problems, although this doesn’t always entail a move to a care home.

Moreover, the society devalues old age in many ways, and this is particularly true in the United States, where individualism, self-reliance, and independence are highly valued, stated by Oregon State University researcher Michelle Barnhart in a statement. Almost every stereotype that people associate with being elderly is something negative, from being crotchety and unwilling to change to being forgetful. Some terms typically used to describe older people can be far from flattering, including wrinkled, absent minded, forgetful, fragile, feeble, or a burden on society etc. …show more content…
There are way too many negative stigmas/stereotypes attached to retirement. I supposed no one would want to be perceived as a burden to the society, let alone being called names such as fragile, wrinkled etc. It appears people forget that older people have contributed for decades on a macro level to the workplace and financially. Also at a local level of their communities and individual networks in terms of