The End Game

Guest: Corey Abramson, professor of Sociology at the University of Arizona. His book, The End Game: How Inequality Shapes Our Final Years, will be published by Harvard University Press later this year Dream vacations, bridge tournaments, leisure time by the pool or on the golf course-there's a definite "golden tinge" to the way Americans like to envision spending their twilight years-just check out all the vibrant pictures and travel advertisements on the AARP website. But the reality is some 23 million Americans over the age of 59 are "economically insecure." Social Security and Medicare are meant to be a safety net, of course. And there's a prevailing notion among sociologists that inequalities earlier in life fade away in the end: the challenges of aging arrive in much the same fashion, no matter how much money or education you have. Corey Abramson challenges this theory in his new book: "The End Game: How Inequality Shapes Our Final Years."