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Ageing and the Economic Crisis

Monday, 11 July 2016: 09:00-10:30
Location: Hörsaal BIG 1 (Main Building)
RC11 Sociology of Aging (host committee)

Language: English

Has the economic crisis of 2008 created a new kind of ageing? Ageing changes individuals. How they change depends partly on the people themselves, partly on the social context that surrounds them. The economic crisis of 2008 changed this social context. It has increased unemployment and poverty rates, led to welfare state restructuring, and brought some families closer together while it drove others apart. Because of these changes, ageing now progresses in a new framework. Volatile working careers give life courses less structure than before, financial difficulties can reduce social participation and quality of life, and the ongoing social change might alter attitudes and world views. 
This regular session explores to what extent economic crises affect ageing. It considers effects on the process of ageing and on the status of being old. Examples for topics that can be discussed within this session are: 

  • how the 2008 crisis affected poverty and social exclusion in old age,
  • changing retirement transitions during economic crises,
  • how intergenerational transfers change in times of economic crisis, 
  • shifting life-course patterns in times of crises, and 
  • identity and self-conception in old age during the 2008 crisis.


This session is open to quantitative, qualitative and conceptual studies focusing on one or multiple countries. Contributions from scholars in the beginning of their careers are welcome.

Session Organizer:
Kathrin KOMP, University of Helsinki, Finland
Posters:
Economic Crisis and Ageing- Gendered Evidence from Poland
Monika WILINSKA, University of Stirling, United Kingdom; Jolanta PEREK-BIALAS, Jagiellonian University, Poland
Retirement Age during the 2008 Economic Crisis
Kathrin KOMP, University of Helsinki, Finland
Older People in the Context of the Greek Dept Crisis. They Shoot Horses, Don't They?
Christos PLIAKOS, University of Central Lancashire, United Kingdom
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