Ageing, vulnerability and care: a view from, social gerontology

In this chapter the focus is on the relationship between ageing and care to examine what is distinctive about needs in later life at this point in time and to discuss the range of factors that shape need and perceptions of need in old age. It is argued that the risks and limitations associated with later life are not only intrinsic to the individual but also constituted by prevailing cultural values, expressed in practices of care. Of itself, age categorization, an enduring feature of British welfare services, plays a part in shaping perceptions of old age and older people’s moral claims for care. Old age has a long established association with vulnerability, but the nature of this varies. At this point in time, reliance on publicly funded services in later life produces particular forms of precariousness