This paper uses work and caring history information from the British Family and Working Lives Survey (1994/5) to examine the provision of family care and its impact upon the employment and the subsequent state and private pension entitlement among mid-life men and women. Combining paid employment with care-giving was not an option for a significant minority of women with caring responsibilities in mid-life. One-in-five mid-life women who have ever had caring responsibilities reported that, upon starting caring, they stopped work altogether, and another one-in-five reported that they worked fewer hours, earned less money or could only work restricted hours. Fewer men and women who stopped work as a result of caring were members of an occupational pension scheme than other groups; and they had accumulated fewer years of contributions than their counterparts who continued working, with direct implications for their level of pension income in later life. The extension of employers' schemes to help workers balance paid work and family responsibilities would facilitate more carers remaining in the labour market, as would an explicit carers' dimension within the new ‘Working Tax Credit’. Consideration should also be given to extending credits for second tier pensions to working carers who provide care for over 16 hours a week and who earn below the lower earnings limit. This will ensure that carers who juggle low paid work and care are not penalised for working, and that their unpaid contribution to society is recognised.

The objective of this paper is to present the findings of a quantitative study of Swiss elderly residents on the Costa Blanca (in the Province of Alicante, Spain) and of an ethnographic study of their British counterparts in Fuengirola and Los Boliches on the Costa del Sol (in the Province of Málaga). We examine the German concept Heimat and its value as an organising construct for understanding the aspirations and actions of foreign retirees resident in Spain, and explore whether globalisation undermines locality to the extent that being in a particular geographical place is no longer a prerequisite for feeling at home. The paper describes the social life and patterns of association of these groups of retired people, in terms of social clubs, leisure activities, voluntary associations, charity groups and self-help groups, relations with home, and relations to Spaniards and people from other countries. It compares the results of the two studies in an analysis of the strategies that the two groups adopt for constructing social communities and for finding a new home. This paper thus provides some insights into what older people seek in later life in terms of their residence, co-resident groups, social contacts and lifestyle choices.

Due to demographic changes and a widely supported policy of ageing in place, the number of community-dwelling older people will increase immensely. Thus, supportive neighbourhoods enabling older people to age in place successfully are required. Using Q-methodology, we examined older people's perceptions of the comparative importance of neighbourhood characteristics for ageing in place. Based on the World Health Organization's Global Age-friendly Cities guide, we developed 26 statements about physical and social neighbourhood characteristics. Thirty-two older people in Rotterdam, half of whom were frail, rank-ordered these statements. Q-factor analysis revealed three distinct viewpoints each among frail and non-frail older people. Comparisons within and between groups are discussed. Although both frail and non-frail older people strongly desired a neighbourhood enabling them to age in place, they have divergent views on such a neighbourhood. Older people's dependence on the neighbourhood seems to be dynamic, affected by changing social and physical conditions and levels of frailty.

This research report starts from the assumption that a solely geriatric and transport-related view of out-of-home mobility needs to be extended to incorporate other aspects of perceived and experienced mobility. In particular, our goal is to understand better the stability and change in people's perceptions of out-of-home mobility over ten years. We concentrate on: (a) the subjective meaning of mobility over time, including perceived changes in mobility and perceived reasons for change; (b) trends in satisfaction with various mobility domains; and (c) a case-oriented exploration of inter-individual variation over time. A qualitative–quantitative data-analytic approach was applied to data collected from 82 participants on three occasions over ten years in 1995, 2000 and 2005. The mean age of the sample in 2005 was 75.2 years. The results indicate overall stability in the meaning attached to mobility between 1995 and 2005, while the perceived changes point to major losses in the array of mobility experiences and decreasing satisfaction with mobility opportunities, out-of-home leisure activities and travelling, but in contrast satisfaction with public transport increased. Case studies exemplified the reasons for the pronounced variation in satisfaction with mobility dynamics over time. In conclusion, the findings confirm that out-of-home mobility remains of utmost importance when people move from late midlife into old age.

This article examines how older adults experience the physical and social realities of having multiple chronic conditions in later life. Drawing on data from in-depth interviews with 16 men and 19 women aged 73+ who had between three and 14 chronic conditions, we address the following research questions: (a) What is it like to have multiple chronic conditions in later life? (b) How do older men and women ‘learn to live’ with the physical and social realities of multiple morbidities? (c) How are older adults’ experiences of illness influenced by age and gender norms? Our participants experienced their physical symptoms and the concomitant limitations to their activities to be a source of personal disruption. However, they normalised their illnesses and made social comparisons in order to achieve a sense of biographical flow in distinctly gendered ways. Forthright in their frustration over their loss of autonomy and physicality but resigned and stoic, the men's stories reflected masculine norms of control, invulnerability, physical prowess, self-reliance and toughness. The women were dismayed by their bodies’ altered appearances and concerned about how their illnesses might affect their significant others, thereby responding to feminine norms of selflessness, sensitivity to others and nurturance. We discuss the findings in relation to the competing concepts of biographical disruption and biographical flow, as well as successful ageing discourses.

This study analyses the relationships between cognitive performance, social participation and behavioural risks, taking into account age and educational attainment. We examine individual data for 11 European countries and Israel from the first wave of the Survey on Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). The stochastic frontier approach methodology enables us to identify different sources of plasticity on cognitive functioning while taking into account age-related decline in cognitive performance. Several social participation variables were examined: employment status, attending educational courses, doing voluntary or charity work, providing help to family, friends or neighbours, participating in sports, social or other clubs, in a religious organisation and in a political or community organisation, and we controlled for age, education, income, physical activity, body-mass index, smoking and drinking. In the pooled sample, the results clearly show that all kinds of social involvement enhance cognitive functions, in particular in work. Moreover, behavioural risks such as physical inactivity, obesity, smoking or drinking were clearly detrimental to cognitive performance. Models for men and women were run separately. For both genders, all social involvement indicators associated with better cognitive performance. The results varied by countries, however, particularly the signs of the associations with a number of indicators of social involvement and behavioural risks.

Cross-national comparisons employed welfare state classifications to explain differences in care use in the European older population. Yet these classifications do not cover all care-related societal characteristics and limit our understanding of which specific societal characteristics are most important. Using the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement (second wave, 2006–07), the effect of societal determinants relating to culture, welfare state context and socio-economic and demographic composition on informal and formal care use of older adults in 11 European countries was studied. Multinomial multi-level regression analyses showed that, in addition to individual determinants, societal determinants are salient for understanding care use. In countries with fewer home-based services, less residential care, more informal care support and women working full time, older adults are more likely to receive informal care only. Older adults are more likely to receive only formal home care or a combination of formal and informal care in countries with more extensive welfare state arrangements (i.e. more home-based services, higher pension generosity), whereas the odds of receiving a combination of informal and formal care are also larger in countries that specify a legal obligation to care for parents. We tentatively conclude that the incorporation of societal determinants rather than commonly used welfare state classifications results in more understanding of the societal conditions that determine older adults’ care use.

The objective of this study is to describe the pattern of participation in leisure activities in an older population in relation to contextual factors as well as to mental and physical health. A cohort of 1,623 participants aged 75 or older living in Stockholm, Sweden was asked to list all the leisure activities they were engaged in. These were successively organised into 31 major categories and further grouped into mental, social, physical, productive and recreational types. The pattern of participation was examined in relation to age, gender, contextual factors (education, social network) and health status (depressive symptoms, cognitive impairment, dementia, somatic diseases and physical limitation). In spite of their advanced age, the majority of the population was active, as 70 per cent had participated in at least one activity. Reading (19%) was the most prevalent individual activity, and mental activities (43%) the most prevalent activity type. Older age, female gender, low education status, having a poor or limited social network, mental disorders, and physical limitation, were all factors correlated with a decreased engagement in ‘at least one activity’. Contextual factors and health-related factors were related to the five activity types in different ways. The pattern of participation in leisure activities is associated with multiple factors and their recognition is essential to the facilitation of an active lifestyle in the older population.

This paper deals with two related issues: (1) the extent to which older persons who require some assistance in the tasks of or resources needed for daily living actually receive such assistance from informal networks; and (2) the consequences of the receipt of this assistance for the older person.

Cognitive impairment manifests in changed out-of-home mobility. Until recently, the assessment of outdoor mobility relied on the reports of family care-givers and institutional staff and used observational approaches, activity monitoring or behavioural checklists. This article presents data for 41 mildly demented, mildly cognitively impaired and healthy men and women aged 64–90 years in Tel-Aviv (Israel) who took part in an interdisciplinary project, SenTra, that is studying the outdoor activities of elderly people using advanced tracking technologies and that involves researchers from geography, social work, gerontology, psychology and medicine. The participants were tracked for 28 consecutive days using a location kit that combined a global positioning system (GPS) with radio frequency identification. The high-resolution spatial and temporal data enabled detailed analysis of the differences in the timing and distance of the participants' daily outdoor mobility patterns. It was found that the spatial range of the mobility of elderly people with cognitive impairment is severely restricted, with most out-of-home time spent in close proximity to their residences. We conclude that GPS is an advanced research tool able to understand out-of-home behaviour better than was possible with previous methods.

This paper presents key findings of a recently completed socio-legal study of international retirement migration in the European Union (EU). It highlights the diverse nature of retirement migration and the differential citizenship status that is formally granted to various groups of retired migrants. ‘Citizenship of the European Union’ (Articles 17–22 of the Treaty establishing the European Community) bestows important social and political rights on nationals of EU Member States (‘Community nationals’). These rights are not, however, universal or based on nationality as such. In practice, the residency and social rights that a mobile EU national can claim in another Member State depend on the type of social contribution they have made and their personal relationships. Contributions through paid employment and/or membership of the family of a mobile EU worker gives rise to maximum social benefit. Whilst the European Union citizenship provisions extend residency rights to all EU nationals (irrespective of work status), those whose mobility is not connected to employment derive significantly inferior social entitlements when resident in a host Member State. Put simply, the rights of people (and members of their family) who move following retirement in their home country differ substantially from those who retire following a period of working in another Member State (and achieve the status of ‘community migrant worker’ prior to retirement). This formal ‘discrimination’ is further compounded by the diversity of the social welfare systems of the member states that results in distinct social, economic and spatial inequalities across the EU. To that extent, the ‘choice’ of retirement location significantly impacts on citizenship status. However, retired migrants are not merely passive spectators of formal rights and policies. Many show considerable skill in actively managing their rights (at both national and EU levels) and other resources to optimise personal benefit. This ability to maximise wellbeing is unevenly distributed.

China's population has been ageing rapidly since the 1980s, with 178 million older persons (60 years or over) in 2010 and 450 million expected by 2050. The sheer size of the ageing population means that there is an urgent need to tackle ageing issues and improve social policies in order to achieve intergenerational solidarity, sustainable development and a harmonious society. This paper will summarise the issues and debates in the past decade on social exclusion and discuss the progress of policies and practices with respect to social inclusion. The focus of discussion will be on (a) ways to improve the social security system so as to achieve a better balance of formal and informal supports, (b) development of community services for meeting the needs of older people living alone or having special needs in daily living, and (c) new initiatives for balancing formal support and filial piety, taking into account the younger generation's expectation that in order to maintain the important role of filial piety in modern China, the ability to fulfil filial obligations must be supported by the development of formal support beyond the family. In addition, some emerging issues and challenges will also be discussed.

Although accumulated research findings point to both short- and long-term salutary effects of time volunteering on older adults' physical and mental health, little research has been done on the effect of older adults' making charitable donations on their wellbeing. Guided by activity theory and the theory of volunteering and using data from the first and second waves of Midlife Development in the United States (MIDUS, 1995–1996 and MIDUS II, 2004–2006), this study examined the question of whether time volunteering and charitable donations nine years earlier had a positive direct effect on psychological wellbeing among individuals age 55 and above. Controlling for time 1 (T1) psychological wellbeing and T1 human, cultural, and social capital resources, a moderate amount (up to ten hours monthly) of T1 time volunteering and any amount of T1 charitable donations had a direct positive effect on time 2 (T2; nine years later) psychological wellbeing. The findings also show a greater effect on psychological wellbeing of any amount of charitable donations than of any amount of time volunteering, although the extent of the effect of both time volunteering and charitable donations was small. With regard to human, cultural, and social capital resources, T1 self-rated health and generative quality were significant predictors of T2 psychological wellbeing, but T1 social capital had no significant effect on T2 psychological wellbeing.

This paper examines several aspects of the social situation of the older immigrant population in Switzerland. It reviews their demographic history and characteristics and provides profiles of their health and well being, their material standard of life and access to social security and related benefits. It reports selected findings from an original survey of older Italian and Spanish citizens who are resident in the country, which show relatively high rates of disadvantage and poverty. The determination of a large proportion of the immigrant population to remain in Switzerland after they have ceased work demonstrates that the minorities who entered the country as labour migrants will become a permanent element of the Swiss population and its society. Neither the politicians nor the general public in Switzerland have yet accepted the reality of this new diversity. Given the continuation and indeed growth of international labour migration, the paper concludes by discussing the social policy and attitudinal options that face the governments and the population of Switzerland and many other European countries.

‘Caring’ and ‘carers’ are words in frequent use in social policy, but their meaning is often vague and undefined, encompassing a wide range of activities and relationships. This paper discusses the meaning of caring and focuses particular attention on older carers. Secondary analysis of the 1985 Office of Population, Censuses and Surveys (OPCS) Informal Carers Survey data shows that of the estimated six million informal carers in Britain, the largest contribution is made by women in their early 60s, and that elderly men are more likely than younger men to be carers. The bulk of informal caring work, in terms of total time spent, is provided by co-resident carers, most of whom are a spouse or parent of the dependant. However, the largest number of those receiving help live in separate households, and these are mainly parents or parents-in-law of their carers. The emphasis on elderly people as a ‘social burden’ neglects their contribution as providers of informal care. Over a third of informal care to people over 65 is provided by elderly people. Elderly men and women provide equal amounts of co-resident care, reflecting gender equality in the care of elderly spouses. But among younger people marked gender differences are apparent in co-resident care, and in the provision of informal care to elderly people living in separate households.

Substitution among the providers of old-age care has usually meant a process whereby the state ‘takes over’ what families used to do, but during the 1980s and 1990s, both home help and institutional care were cut back substantially in Sweden as elsewhere. Comparable, nationally representative surveys in Sweden of the provision of care for older people living in the community enable analysis of the effects of these cutbacks on the sources and patterns of care. It emerges that increased inputs from families match the decline of public services, that is, a ‘reverse’ substitution has recently been taking place. Local studies, of older people who have been followed over time as the provision of home help has changed, support these conclusions. Of the increased informal care, most has been provided by daughters, but sons have also contributed. A problematic aspect of these shifting patterns of care is that an increasing number of family carers with increasingly heavy care commitments are now without formal or informal support, whereas in the recent past many could expect their responsibilities to be shared with the state. The evidence from this study also calls into question common metaphors and assumptions about the assumed interdependence between informal care and public services for older people, and challenges the so-called substitution thesis.

There is growing interest in factors which can contribute to the wellbeing of older adults. Participation in learning could have beneficial effects, but to date research on the benefits of learning has tended to focus on young people or those in mid-life and there is currently little evidence on the impact of learning on the wellbeing of older adults. In this paper we provide new, quantitative evidence on the relationship between participation in learning and the wellbeing of older adults. Our study used data from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA), a continuing, longitudinal survey of older adults. To measure wellbeing we used the CASP-19 instrument, a subjective wellbeing measure which is available at all waves of the ELSA survey. Respondents were asked about four types of learning activity: obtaining qualifications; attendance at formal education/training courses; membership of education, music or arts groups or evening classes; membership of sports clubs, gym and exercise classes. To take account of unobservable factors which might influence wellbeing, we applied fixed effects panel regressions to four waves of ELSA data. Learning was associated with higher wellbeing after controlling for a range of other factors. We found evidence that more informal types of learning were associated with higher wellbeing. There was no evidence that formal education/training courses were associated with higher wellbeing.

Personal relationships are an integral part of living, working and visiting in care homes, but little research has made relationships the main focus of enquiry, and there have been few studies of the perspectives of residents, staff and family members. The study reported here sought to redress this neglect. Using a constructivist approach, the nature and types of relationships between residents, staff and family members were explored in three care homes in England using combined methods including participant observation, interviews and focus groups. The data collection and analysis occurred iteratively over 21 months and three types of relationships were identified: ‘pragmatic relationships’ that primarily focus on the instrumental aspects of care; ‘personal and responsive relationships’ that engage more fully with the particular needs of individual residents; and ‘reciprocal relationships’ that recognise the roles of residents, staff and family members in creating a sense of community within the home. This paper explores the contributions made by staff, residents and family members in the development of these relationships. The findings enhance our understanding of the role of inter-personal relationships in care home settings and of the factors that condition them. The implications for developing improved practice in care homes are also considered.

Benevolent, long-term care can threaten older adults' sense of autonomy in a residential home environment. Increasing reliance on a hotel style of living has been seen to erode social identity, life satisfaction and even survival or lifespan. Drawing on evidence from both gerontological and social psychological literature, this paper examines the links between the empowerment of residents and their subsequent quality of life in the context of a move into a new care facility in a medium-sized town in South-West England. A longitudinal experiment was conducted during which 27 residents on one floor of a new facility were involved in decisions surrounding its décor, while those on another floor were not. The residents' attitudes and behaviour were monitored at three points over five months (four weeks pre-move, four weeks post-move, and four months post-move). Consistent with the social identity literature, members of the empowered group reported increased identification with staff and fellow residents in the new home, displayed enhanced citizenship, reported improved wellbeing, and made more use of the communal space. Moreover the staff found the empowered residents to be more engaged with their environment and the people around them, to be generally happier and to have better health. These patterns were observed one month after the move and remained four months later. Some implications for theory and practice are discussed.

Migrant care workers make a substantial contribution to older adult care in Ireland and the United Kingdom (UK). However, little is known about the relational aspects of care involving migrant care workers and older people. Given that the care relationship is closely linked to quality of care, and that the Irish and UK sectors are increasingly restricted by economic austerity measures, this lack of information is a concern for care practice and policy. Our paper explores the relationship between migrant care workers and older people in Ireland and the UK and draws on data collected in both countries, including focus groups with older people (N = 41), interviews with migrant care workers (N = 90) and data from a survey of and interviews with employers. The findings illustrate the complexity of the migrant care worker–older person relationship; the prevalence of need orientated, friendship and familial-like, reciprocal, and discriminatory interlinking themes; and the role of individual, structural and temporal factors in shaping these relationships.