Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jn8rn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T08:13:42.614Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

‘Since I retired, I can take things as they come. For example, the laundry’: gender, class and freedom in retirement in Switzerland

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 February 2017

MARION REPETTI
Affiliation:
Institute of Social Sciences, University of Lausanne, Switzerland.
TONI CALASANTI*
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, USA.
*
Address for correspondence: Toni Calasanti, Department of Sociology, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract

Population ageing has led many countries to be concerned about the ‘economic burden’ of elders, and several have adopted the active ageing paradigm to reform policy. However, gender differences that moderate the effect of active ageing have been little considered. As in other nations in the European Union, Swiss federal authorities use the active ageing paradigm to reshape ageing policies, including the provision of incentives to seniors to remain in the labour market. At the same time, many recent and proposed changes draw on the assumption of gender equality, even though actual parity has not yet been demonstrated. We know little about how gender shapes retirement in Switzerland, other than in relation to financial inequality between women and men. Qualitative analysis of semi-structured interviews conducted with Swiss retirees (N = 15) shows how men and women describe this time of life differently. All respondents characterised retirement as a time of freedom; but the meaning of such freedom diverged for men and women, reflecting the gender division of labour, which is further shaped by class. We discuss the implications of this difference for the gendered consequences of active ageing policies.

Type
Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2017 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

August, R. A. 2011. Women's retirement meanings: context, changes, and organizational lessons. Gender in Management: An International Journal, 26, 5, 351–66.Google Scholar
Bardin, L. 1977. L'analyse de contenu. Presses Universitaires de France, Paris.Google Scholar
Barnes, H. and Parry, J. 2004. Renegotiating identity and relationships: men and women's adjustments to retirement. Ageing & Society, 24, 2, 213–33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bertaux, D. 2003. Les récits de vie. Nathan, Paris.Google Scholar
Bourdieu, P. 2003. Ce terrible repos qui est celui de la mort sociale. Le Monde Diplomatique, June, 5.Google Scholar
Calasanti, T. 1993. Bringing diversity in: toward an inclusive theory of retirement. Journal of Aging Studies, 7, 2, 133–50.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Calasanti, T. 1996. Gender and life satisfaction in retirement: an assessment of the male model. Journals of Gerontology: Social Sciences, 51B, 1, S1829.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Calasanti, T. 2009. Theorizing feminist gerontology and sexuality: an intersectional approach. In Bengtson, V. L., Silverstein, M., Putney, N. M. and Gans, D. (eds), Handbook of Theories of Aging. Springer, New York, 471–86.Google Scholar
Calasanti, T. and King, N. 2007. Taking ‘women's work’ ‘like a man’: husbands’ experiences of care work. The Gerontologist, 47, 4, 516–27.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Calasanti, T. and Slevin, K. 2001. Gender, Social Inequalities, and Aging. Alta Mira Press, Walnut Creek, California.Google Scholar
Coltrane, S. and Adams, M. 2008. Gender and Families. Second edition, Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham, Maryland.Google Scholar
Dannefer, D. 2003. Cumulative advantage/disadvantage and the life course: cross-fertilizing age and social science theory. Journals of Gerontology: Social Sciences, 58B, 6, 327–37.Google Scholar
Davidson, K., Daly, T. and Arber, S. 2003. Exploring the social worlds of older men. In Arber, S., Davidson, K. and Ginn, J. (eds), Gender and Ageing: Changing Roles and Relationships. Open University Press, Philadelphia, 168–85.Google Scholar
De Bruyne, P., Herman, J. and De Schoutheete, M. 1974. Dynamique de la recherche en sciences sociales. Presses Universitaires de France, Paris.Google Scholar
Dépelteau, F. 2000. La démarche d'une recherche en sciences humaines. De la question de départ à la communication des résultats. De Boek Université, Brussels.Google Scholar
Ehrenberg, A. 2000. La fatigue d’être soi. Odile Jacob, Paris.Google Scholar
European Commission 2010. Communication from the Commission Europe 2020. Eur-Lex. Available online at http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=COM:2010:2020:FIN:EN:PDF [Accessed 31 August 2015].Google Scholar
Everingham, C., Warner-Smith, P. and Byles, J. 2007. Transforming retirement: re-thinking models of retirement to accommodate the experiences of women. Women's Studies International Forum, 3, 6, 512–22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Federal Department of Home Affairs 2013. Lignes directrices de la réforme Prévoyance vieillesse 2020. Federal Administration, Berne. Available online at http://www.news.admin.ch/NSBSubscriber/message/attachments/31446.pdf [Accessed 31 August 2015].Google Scholar
Federal Statistical Office 2013. On the Way to Gender Equality: Current Situation and Developments. Swiss Statistics, Neuchâtel. Available online at http://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/portal/en/index/themen/20/22/publ.html?publicationID=3378 [Accessed 31 August 2015].Google Scholar
Federal Statistical Office 2014 a. Travail domestique et familial. Nombre d'heures par semaine en moyenne pour l'année 2013. Federal Statistical Office, Bern. Available online at https://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/fr/home/statistiques/travail-remuneration/travail-non-remunere/travail-domestique-familial.html [Accessed 20 January 2017].Google Scholar
Federal Statistical Office 2014 b. La pauvreté des personnes âgées. Swiss Statistics, Neuchâtel. Available online at http://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/portal/fr/index/news/publikationen.html?publicationID=5823 [Accessed 30 June 2016].Google Scholar
Federal Statistical Office 2015. Travail domestique et familial. Nombre d'heures par semaine en moyenne en 2013. Swiss Statistics, Neuchâtel. Available online at http://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/portal/fr/index/themen/03/06/blank/data.html [Accessed 31 August 2015].Google Scholar
Fontaine, J. and Gendron, B. 2012. La retraite au miroir du genre. L'Harmattan, Paris.Google Scholar
Gestin, A. 2003. Temps, espace et corps à la retraite. Des paradoxes à penser. L'Homme et la société, 1, 147, 169–90.Google Scholar
Guichard-Claudic, Y., Le Borgne-Uguen, F., Pennec, S. and Thomsin, L. 2001. L'expérience de la retraite au masculin et au féminin. Des parcours diversifiés selon les appartenances sociales. Cahiers du Genre, 31, 2, 81104.Google Scholar
Guillemard, A.-M. 1972. La retraite, une mort sociale. Sociologie des conduites en situation de retraite. Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, Mouton et Co., Paris.Google Scholar
Guillemard, A.-M. 2002. De la retraite mort sociale à la retraite solidaire. Gérontologie et Société, 3, 102, 5366.Google Scholar
Henry, P. and Moscovici, S. 1968. Problèmes de l'analyse de contenu. Langages, 3, 11, 3660.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hochschild, A. R. and Machung, A. 1989. The Second Shift. Viking, New York.Google Scholar
Kojola, E. and Moen, P. 2016. No more lock-step retirement: boomers’ shifting meanings of work and retirement. Journal of Aging Studies, 36, 1, 5970.Google Scholar
Le Feuvre, N., Kuehni, M., Rosende, M. and Schoeni, C. 2014. Gendered variations in the experience of ageing at work in Switzerland. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal, 34, 2, 168–81.Google Scholar
Levy, R., Gauthier, J.-A., Widmer, E. D. 2007. Entre contraintes institutionnelle et domestique: les parcours de vie masculins et féminins en Suisse. Revue canadienne de sociologie, 31, 4, 461–89.Google Scholar
Loretto, W. and Vickerstaff, S. 2012. The domestic and gendered context for retirement. Human Relations, 66, 1, 6586.Google Scholar
Moulaert, T. and Léonard, D. 2011. Le vieillissement actif sur la scène internationale. Courrier hebdomadaire du CRISP, 20, 2105, 533.Google Scholar
Pennec, S. 2001. Les liens sociaux au moment du passage à la retraite. Différences entre les sexes. In Legrand, M. (ed.), La retraite: une révolution silencieuse. ERES, Paris, 159–78.Google Scholar
Petit, M. 2016. Les retraités: cette richesse pour la France. L'Harmattan, Paris.Google Scholar
Phillipson, C. 1998. Reconstructing Old Age. Sage, London.Google Scholar
Pilgram, A. and Seifert, K. 2009. Vivre avec peu de moyens. La pauvreté des personnes âgées en Suisse. Pro Senectute, Zurich, Switzerland.Google Scholar
Price, C. 2002. Retirement for women: the impact of employment. Journal of Women & Aging, 14, 3/4, 4157.Google Scholar
Rainer, G., Oris, M., Studer, M. and Beariswyl, M. 2015. The persistence of social stratification? A life course perspective on poverty in old-age in Switzerland. Swiss Journal of Sociology, 41, 3, 465–87.Google Scholar
Repetti, M. 2015 a. Retired people facing active ageing. Swiss Journal of Sociology, 4, 3, 416–35.Google Scholar
Repetti, M. 2015 b. Du retraité méritant au senior actif: genèse et actualité d'une figure sociale en Suisse. Retraite et Société, 2, 71, 1533.Google Scholar
Rosende, M. and Schoeni, C. 2012. Seconde partie de carrière, régime de retraite et inégalités de sexe. Revue française des affaires sociales, 2, 2/3, 130–47.Google Scholar
Russell, C. 2007. What do older women and men want? Gender differences in the ‘lived experience’ of ageing. Current Sociology, 55, 2, 173–92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sargent, L., Lee, M., Martin, B. and Zikic, J. 2012. Reinventing retirement: new pathways, new arrangement, new meanings. Human Relations, 66, 1, 321.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schmid Botkine, C. and Rausa-de Luca, F. 2007. Vieillissement démographique et adaptations sociales. Office fédéral de la statistique, Berne.Google Scholar
Solimeo, S. 2008. Sex and gender in old adults’ experience of Parkinson's Disease. Journal of Gerontology, 63, 1, 42–8.Google Scholar
Tabin, J.-P. 2011. Le parcours de vie selon l'AVS. Revue d'information sociale. Available online at http://www.reiso.org/spip.php?article1409 [Accessed 31 August 2015].Google Scholar
Walker, A. 2009. Commentary: The emergence and application of active aging in Europe. Journal of Aging and Social Policy, 21, 1, 7593.Google Scholar
Walker, A. and Maltby, T. 2012. Active ageing. A strategic policy solution to demographic ageing in the European Union. International Journal of Social Welfare, 21, supplement 1, 117–30.Google Scholar
Wilson, G. 2000. Understanding Old Age: Critical and Global Perspectives. Sage, London.Google Scholar