The impact of new intimate relationships in later life on social and filial relationships

Lots of prior social gerontological research has focused on filial relations in informal care as well as the impact of widowhood on social relationships in later life. In this paper we instead ask how a new intimate relationship in later life effect relationships with children, relatives and friends. In particular we focus on the effects that a new intimate partner in later life has on filial, social and care obligations. To answer these questions, qualitative interviews were conducted with a strategical sample of 28 Swedes, 63–91 years, who had established a new intimate relationship after the age of 60 (or who are dating). We found that the respondents describe changes over their life-time in what we conceptualize as the ‘relationship chain’ – a hierarchy in social and care responsibilities – where the new partner in established relations steps in at the very front of the chain. This is positively perceived by the informants, who recurrently describe their partners as a resource for their own autonomy as well as that of their children, relatives and friends.