Which concept states that early life choices and inequalities can negatively affect quality of life in old age (including gender and racial inequality)?

• A. Life Span
• B. Cumulative Disadvantage
• C. Cohort Effect
• D. Life Course Perspective

Answer: (B)

Cumulative disadvantage explains how early life conditions and inequalities can add up over time and shape outcomes later in life. When someone faces limited opportunities, discrimination, or poor access to resources early on, each setback can compound with subsequent ones—affecting education, health, income, and social support. This accumulation leads to poorer health, reduced financial security, and fewer advantages in old age, with gender and racial inequalities often magnified as these disadvantages build over the life course.

Other ideas describe related ideas but don’t pinpoint the idea of disadvantages stacking across the years. The Life Span focuses on how long someone lives, not on how early-life inequalities influence later quality of life. The Cohort Effect looks at differences due to being born in a particular era, rather than the cumulative impact of life-course disadvantages. The Life Course Perspective is the broad framework that encompasses how experiences across life shape outcomes, within which cumulative disadvantage is a specific mechanism explaining poorer late-life outcomes.