Sociology Unit 2 - Age by Horatio

This refers to the amount of time in years that someone has been alive. This is used for mainly legal purposes.

This is interested in the way that age is seen in society, for instance a 70-yea­r-old is not expected to play with children's toys.

The definition of a child has varied over time. For example, in the Middle Ages, children were considered "­min­iature adults­" from the age of 7 and were expected to work.
In the 19th century, child labour was the norm among the working class.

There are more adults and older people than there used to be. This may be because of:
    - Better healthcare
    - Better access to healthcare
    - Better general health knowledge

In the future, it is expected that there will be many more older people.

This is a recent develo­pment, only becoming recognized as a distinct subculture until the 1950s or so.
This may be due to:
    - Affluence. With a multitude of jobs and a lot of disposable income, the youth could spend their wages on leisure.
    - New Industries. New things developed to encourage the youth to spend money, such as pop music, rock and roll and discos.
    - Education. Compulsory education meant that more young people spent more time with people their own age.