In late adulthood, many of the physical losses of middle adulthood (e. g., sensory decline) continue. for people over 65 there is also a new physical problem that about half of the population must contend with, called

It is called osteoarthritis.  Osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis. It occurs when the protective cartilage on the ends of your bones deteriorates. over time. Symptoms include pain, tenderness, stiffness of joints, inflexibility and grating in joints. Statistics show that as of 2012, osteoarthritis affected 52.5 million people in the United States and approximately 50% of whom were 65 years or older.

The answer is society was a caste like system with poor whites at the bottom of the white social ladder.