Beginning in the late Middle Ages, the number of impoverished and potentially impoverished elderly individuals grew steadily, primarily as a result of social differentiation and the growth of the underclass. Now old age was accompanied with increasing frequency in popular perception by pejorative connotations (as a period of decline preceding death); it was thought of as a burden on the younger generation (Life stairs). Poverty among the elderly developed rapidly in this context, but its nuanced scientific study and assessment constantly came up against t…
Old age, poverty in(937 words)
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Bräuer, Helmut, “Old age, poverty in”, in: Encyclopedia of Early Modern History Online, Editors of the English edition: Graeme Dunphy, Andrew Gow. Original German Edition: Enzyklopädie der Neuzeit. Im Auftrag des Kulturwissenschaftlichen Instituts (Essen) und in Verbindung mit den Fachherausgebern herausgegeben von Friedrich Jaeger. Copyright © J.B. Metzlersche Verlagsbuchhandlung und Carl Ernst Poeschel Verlag GmbH 2005–2012. Consulted online on 01 December 2023 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2352-0272_emho_SIM_016761>
First published online: 2015
First print edition: 20200721
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