We Are All One of an Age
Channel: LIVING SOCIOLOGY
Date: 2019-12-11

First Person, Plural on CFUV-fm, Victoria, BC 
Originally aired August 22, 2002

We visited Fairfield Activity Centre Society at New Horizons in the Cook Street Village in Victoria to talk with seniors about the importance of having a special place for seniors to go and be with other seniors.  Demographers speak of "cohort effects" and "period effects" when they talk about the identity that different generations acquire as they come of age.  Cohort effects refer to the ways in which people around the same age experience similar milestones in life:  school, dating, marriage, children, careers, grandchildren, retirement.  Period effects refer to the ways significant trends or major historical events help shape the identity of the different age groups such as the Great Depression, World War II, protests in the 60s or downward economic trends in the 80s.  Both these effects shape what we call "generations."

In the 60s, it was popular to talk about the generation gap.  Referring to the vast differences in politics between those over thirty and those under thirty, this represented a major rift based upon age.  But as unique as it seemed at the time, it really isn't that odd for one generation to experience life differently than another.  Like ethnic background, gender, sexual orientation and socio-economic background, people tend to group with people their own age in our culture.  Who we are is in part shaped by when we were born and what historical events we identify with.

copyright: Carl Wilkerson and Pattie Thomas

http://sociologylegacy.pbworks.com/w/page/93415022/Episode%2015%20We%20Are%20All%20One%20of%20an%20Age