The lifestyle of the baby boomers as retirees has been assumed to differ from older cohorts due to them being financially more stable and having grown up during the welfare state expansion. Many baby boomers live in large houses with gardens that require maintenance and labour. Recent studies have indicated that a growing share of those born in the 1940s in Sweden express a wish to change residence at retirement or in old age. A need to verify such results statistically was identified to confirm whether there has been an increase in residential mobility among older people. As a result, moves that took place during 2001–06 of the total cohort born in the 1940s were compared to similar moves by those born in the 1930s, ten years earlier during 1991–96, i.e. those aged 57–66 in 1996 and 2006. The study used a register database, Geoswede, containing the entire Swedish population. The study showed increased residential mobility rates among the 1940s cohort compared to the cohort born in the 1930s. However, explanations for the differences between the cohorts were not evident.

The positive relationship between wealth and wellbeing has received considerable attention over the last three decades. However, little is known about how the significance of wealth for the health and wellbeing of older adults may vary across societies. Furthermore, researchers tend to focus mainly on income rather than other aspects of financial resources even though older adults often rely on fixed income, particularly after retirement. Using data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey (N=1,431), the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) in the United States of America (USA; N=4,687), and the Korean Longitudinal Study of Ageing (KLoSA; N=5,447), this exploratory cross-national study examined the relationship between wealth satisfaction and objective wealth and wellbeing (measured as self-rated health and life satisfaction) among older Australians, Americans and Koreans (50+ years). Regression analyses showed that wealth satisfaction was associated with wellbeing over and above monetary wealth in all three countries. The relationship between monetary wealth and self-rated health was larger for the US than Australian and Korean samples, while the additional contribution of wealth satisfaction to life satisfaction was larger for the Korean than the Australian and US samples. These findings are discussed in terms of the cultural and economic differences between these countries, particularly as they affect older persons.

Social gerontologists have long grappled with the meaning of ‘community’ to older people. This paper lies within this tradition and focuses on the extent to which the past emphasis upon communities of place needs to be rebalanced or rethought in the light of emerging evidence for the growing engagement of older people in communities of interest linked to friendships, enthusiasms and their increasing spending power. This theoretical paper highlights the traditional emphasis on the role of community and place in later life and explores the emergence of a debate about communities of interest linked to such factors as the ‘discovery’ of ‘the Third Age’, marketisation, consumerism, the importance of social interaction in the lives of many older people, and the impact of the internet and virtual communities. This debate is placed in an international policy context in which numerous governments are concerned about the greying of the global population and the consequent desire to promote ‘ageing well’ to offset resultant health and social care costs. The paper argues for a reconceptualisation of community through a more sophisticated view of ‘place’ and ‘interest’ that avoids false dichotomies between the two and acknowledges the impact of social, economic and cultural change upon the lives of older people.

Recent research has suggested that understanding and addressing the high prevalence of sleep difficulties in older women requires going beyond a purely physiological focus to address the role of social contextual pressures and demands. We take a gendered lifecourse approach to explore how sleep difficulties have evolved and how their management might reflect the position of older women in society more broadly. We conducted in-depth interviews with 12 oldest-old (average age 86) community-dwelling women who currently experienced sleep difficulties. Five themes emerged from the analysis: significant life stages; contingent lives; daily concerns in relation to ageing; attitudes and responses of women and general practitioners; and stigma and sleeping pills, which provided a conceptual framework through which to explain the reality of sleep difficulties for these women. For all women, sleep difficulties were not related to physical aspects such as pain or discomfort, but were largely shaped by demands associated with family relationships at different times in the lifecourse. Furthermore, our findings suggest that responses by women themselves, and health professionals, reflect a sense of stigma around sleep difficulties and use of sleeping pills. More emphasis on the social contextual explanations underpinning sleep difficulties might lead to better prevention and treatment of such problems, and increase quality of life.

In this article we recount some of the memories, hopes and strategies of 22 older migrants who are ageing in their adopted country of Aotearoa New Zealand. Having arrived as young adults in the 20 years after World War II, most of the immigrants have lived on ‘foreign’ soil for twice as long as their brief sojourns of childhood and early adulthood in their country of origin. Arriving from a variety of backgrounds in 12 different countries, they can all be considered ‘white’ immigrants in relation to New Zealand's indigenous Māori population and other non-European immigrant groups such as those from Pacific Island Nations or Asia. Their lives encompass the experience of globalisation and transnationalism in communication technologies and inter-country migration. As they recount the meaning of living through these changes, these older folk discuss the delicacies of assimilation in post-World War II New Zealand and the interplay between the daily life of New Zealand as ‘home’ and the homeland as Heimat. Their stories argue against the assumption that decades of residence, particularly for white immigrants in a white-majority nation, imply an ‘assimilation’ of cultural identity. Instead, the stories evoke recognition of the negotiation of gain and loss which continues as they, and their contexts, change over time.

The aim of this study was to explore aspects contributing to experiences of safety in everyday life for older adults who have received modification services. Qualitative interviews were conducted with eight people. Data were analysed using a comparative approach. Three main categories emanated in the analysis: prerequisites that enable a feeling of safety, strategies that enable safety in everyday life, and use of and reliance on technology impacts on safety. The findings revealed that to feel safe in everyday life was based on three prerequisites: feeling healthy, having someone to rely on and feeling at home. The fulfilment of these prerequisites further impacted on the participants' strategies for handling problems in everyday life but also on the ability to use and benefit from technology such as home modifications. In conclusion, the findings indicated that interventions provided to increase safety for older adults should primarily be focused on the presence and fulfilment of prerequisites and later on other interventions such as technology. Technology such as home modifications and assistive devices was not found in this study to facilitate the feeling of safety unless supported by the fulfilled prerequisites. Implications of these findings for clinical practice are discussed.

Older consumers have long been the ‘invisible majority’ in advertising despite the rapid increase in an ageing population. A significant proportion of this population have high levels of disposable income, even in times of recession, but advertisers are not encouraging them to part with it. This paper intends to find out why advertisers have been slow or struggle to target older consumers effectively. The aims of this study are two-fold. First, it explores the portrayal and representation of older consumers in Tesco's ‘Dotty’ campaign and Marks & Spencer's (M&S) ‘Twiggy’ campaign, with special reference to the use of celebrities. The second aim is to demonstrate how the focus has shifted from the more traditional, negative stereotyping (Tesco campaign) to a more progressive approach, presenting aspirational images that older consumers can identify with (M&S campaign). Although both campaigns were effective in terms of increasing profits, this paper suggests that the ongoing M&S example of using older celebrities in advertising campaigns demonstrates a more effective creative strategy that is in tune not only with a growing population of older consumers but is also especially applicable in times of economic uncertainty.

This investigation examines how support from adult children is affected by their parents' involvement in grandchild care. Instead of focusing on dyadic interactions, we adopt a gendered extended family perspective to examine how financial and emotional support from children was influenced when their siblings received help with child care from their elder parents. The data were from a two-wave (2001, 2003) longitudinal study of 4,791 parent–child dyads with 1,162 parents, aged 60 and older, living in rural areas of Anhui Province, China. Random effects regression showed that emotional support from both sons and daughters was strengthened when parents provided more child care for their other adult children; in addition, daughters were more emotionally responsive than sons under this situation. Concerning dyadic parent–child relationships, daughter and sons increased their financial support, and sons increased their emotional support when they themselves received help with child care from parents. We suggest taking a gendered extended family perspective when studying intergenerational relationships in rural China.

In this article we shall be analysing the representations of old age and ageing made by three generations of older women with different life stories (single, married, children and childless). Our principal findings, based on a qualitative analysis of 25 in-depth interviews conducted with three generations of older women (65–74, 75–84 and 85 and older), mainly reveal their reluctance and even refusal to define themselves as ‘older or elderly women’, largely due to persistent stereotypes linking old age to dependency, social isolation and fragility. Aware of the social prejudice regarding women and old age, they reject it unanimously. Older women represent a challenge to these homogenising preconceptions of old age, which they, on the contrary, experience in a multitude of ways, often enjoyable. Their conceptions of ‘ageing well’ are diverse and do not correspond to a clinical definition of ageing. Their representations of ‘ageing well’ and of ageing express positive values of autonomy, independence, consistency and integrity, maintenance of physical and intellectual health, and being socially active so they can ‘stay in the swing of things’, in the continuum of their lives and future projects, rather breaking with contemporary life or existing on the margins of society.

This paper is concerned with the issue of substitution between formal and informal care in Britain between 1985 and 2000. This period provides the conditions for a ‘natural experiment’ in social policy. During the late 1980s/early 1990s, there was an increase in long-stay residential care for older people, which came to an end around the mid-1990s. The paper examines whether this increase in formal services led to a decline in informal care, and whether this was subsequently reversed. The focus is on provision of intense informal care by adult children to their older parents, trends in which are identified using General Household Survey data. The paper shows that there was a decline in provision of intense and very intense co-resident care for older parents between 1985 and 1995, which came to an end in the mid-1990s. These trends in intergenerational care were negatively related to changes in long-stay residential care. In particular, controlling for age and disability, there was evidence of substitution between nursing home/hospital care and very intense co-resident care for older parents. A key policy implication is that an expansion of very intense formal services for older people could bring about a decline in very intense intergenerational care. The paper relates these findings to the current debate on reform of the long-term care system in England.

Previous research shows that socio-economic status (SES) identity, also referred to as perceived or subjective social status, is shaped by objective measures of status, socio-cultural influences and psychological attributes and predicts current and future wellbeing. Prior studies, however, have not examined whether older adults reassess their SES identity over time. In this study, we use two assessments of subjective social status measured six years apart in a sample of older Taiwanese adults to: (a) determine the degree to which respondents adjust their perceptions of social rank; and (b) identify the characteristics of individuals who are most likely to revise their assessments. We find that many older Taiwanese adults reassess their SES identity, but most respondents show small to moderate levels of change. Females, more highly educated respondents, and those who have a positive economic outlook tend to revise their subjective social status upward relative to their respective counterparts; those who become widowed during the period adjust their rankings downward compared with those who do not become widowed. These findings suggest that SES identity may be dynamic, highlighting the importance of collecting information on SES identity at multiple points in the lifecourse.

In western countries, large residential complexes comprising retirement villages and care facilities have become synonymous with specialised housing for older people, but gerontology has tended to view retirement villages and care facilities as separate and different spaces. By researching these spaces separately, gerontology's examination of the development of residential complexes and older people's housing has been hindered. This paper explores the geographies of residential complexes in south-east Queensland, Australia, by employing data from a larger study that utilised Lefebvre's spatial framework, social space. Its specific focus is Lefebvre's concept of representations of space, part of the triad of social space. The paper outlines how the professional knowledge of designers, planners and policy makers shape and frame the place of older people in contemporary society. The findings indicate that professional knowledge is characterised by contradictions, and that business interests sustain stereotypes of older people as either ageless or dependent. Furthermore, spaces designed for older people reinforce historical legacies of separation from the community. This form of built environment can thus be seen as both a cause and effect of ageism. Generally, the lack of attention by gerontology to these spaces has hampered discussion of alternatives for older people's housing in Australia and, importantly, the development of responsive urban and social planning.

Photovoice is a qualitative research technique in which participants record and reflect on their community through photography. The technique is gaining popularity as a participatory research methodology. Few studies, however, have described the use of photovoice with older adults. This paper examines the application of photovoice in a qualitative, participatory research study examining age-friendly community characteristics in four communities in Manitoba, Canada. Thirty older adults were provided with cameras and took photographs to illustrate how age-friendly their communities are and participated in group discussions to identify priorities in becoming more age-friendly. The research process and results were analysed in order to assess the application of the methodology with older adults. Photovoice is an effective tool for eliciting older persons’ perceptions of their communities, giving voice to the unique concerns of older adults, and identifying strategies for change. If adapted to accommodate the needs of seniors, this methodology provides an innovative approach to community-based gerontological research. On the other hand, there are a number of challenges to be overcome if photovoice is to be a truly effective research instrument, including recruitment, photography training, retrieving consent forms, and issues of time and distance.

Based on research with members of two Senior Citizens Forums in the South East of England, this article examines the biographies and motivations of those who get involved in such activities, with particular emphasis on (a) how they see themselves in relation to ‘other older people’ and (b) their relationships with the places in which they live. We address these issues in relation to the characterisation of participants in such forums as the ‘usual suspects’ whose legitimacy to speak on behalf of others may be questioned, and by reference to a growing recognition of the significance of place in the lives of older people. Whilst the locations of the two Forums studied are geographically close, culturally they are quite distinct and we identify important differences in motivations, backgrounds and priorities of forum members in the two places that are associated with these differences. Our research confirms that place-based participation tends to engage those who are fitter and who have more social and cultural capital, but questions assumptions that this means they are spaces for the pursuit of self-interest.

Public discourses concerning older people are available in a variety of texts, including popular media, and these discourses position older people with particular age identities. This study examined discursive formations of ageing and age identities in print media in Ireland. Constituting a single media event, newspaper texts concerned with revised welfare provision for older people were subjected to critical discourse analysis and revealed particular ways of naming and referencing older people and distinct constructions of ageing and age identities. The use of nouns and phrases to name and reference older people positioned them as a distinct demographic group and a latent ageism was discernible in texts that deployed collective names like ‘grannies and grandads’ and ‘little old ladies’. Five distinct identity types were available in the texts, variously constructing older people as ‘victims’; ‘frail, infirm and vulnerable’; ‘radicalised citizens’; ‘deserving old’ and ‘undeserving old’. The discourses made available subject positions that collectively produced identities of implied dependency and otherness, thereby placing older people outside mainstream Irish society. The proposition that older people might be healthy, self-reliant and capable of autonomous living was largely absent in the discourses. Newspaper discourses betray taken-for-granted assumptions and reveal dominant social constructions of ageing and age identity that have consequences for older people's behaviour and for the way that society behaves towards them.

This paper examines population trends, age-specific death rates and causes of death for the elderly Sami and settlers during the colonisation era (between 1750 and 1900). The source material is a set of data files from the Demographic Data Base (DDB) at Umeå University that covers parish records from three different parishes. Early in the colonisation period (1750–1840) the Sami had a lower proportion of the elderly population (⩾60 years old), compared to the non-Sami and the rest of Sweden. At the end of the colonisation period (1841–1900), the proportion of elderly Sami increased and was above the proportion of elderly non-Sami and more similar to the rest of Sweden. The analysis also reveals that the differences in mortality rates among the elderly Sami and their non-Sami counterparts diminished during the entire colonisation era (1750–1900), mainly because of an increased infant mortality among the non-Sami. Rather than ethnic differences in causes of death, the results show larger differences between the parishes. The study can conclude that the Sami population's mortality declined, the health improved, and the Sami advanced more rapidly in the model of epidemiologic transition, a milestone not yet reached by other indigenous people around the world.

Based on in-depth interviews with middle-class Korean professional sojourner migrant married couples in Singapore and their elderly parents, this paper examines how the cultural meaning and social practice of filial co-habitation and support have been transformed in an international migration context. Transnational co-residence and visiting among these families are examined and a differentiated and patterned organisation of support by sons versus daughters for their own elderly parents is demonstrated. Although the immigration regulations and co-ethnic community environments for older Koreans in Singapore pose a challenge to elderly parents, the family remains the most important nexus of care and support. By adopting ‘virtual’ and ‘actual’ co-residence strategies and deploying multi-purpose long-term visits by wives and children in Singapore to their elderly parents in Korea, and by remitting regular financial contributions, these families are able to maintain the cultural ideal of filial co-residence and support. However, the gendered traditional co-habitation ideal differentiates between actual and virtual co-residence. The actual co-residence pattern was mainly adopted by first sons/daughters-in-law couples and the elderly parents of the first sons, whereas the virtual co-residence pattern was mainly adopted by sons-in-law/daughters couples and the elderly parents of daughters. These results show that patterned two-way transnational mobility for providing care and support is shaped by cultural norms and the practical negotiation of family obligations.

A desire to ‘return’ or ‘pay back’ past care has been identified as a potential motivator of support provided by adult children to their ageing parents. The purpose of this study is to examine whether, how and in what ways adult children interpret and apply the concept of delayed reciprocity in filial relationships. Twenty-eight men and women supporting one or both ageing parent(s) in a Western Canadian city participated in a qualitative study of filial responsibility. Data were analysed interpretively, using thematic coding, contextualised reflection and guiding questions. Findings suggest delayed reciprocity is limited as an interpretive framework for describing parent support. Overall, comments reflected qualification or rejection of ‘paying back’ in the sense of a filial contract. Delayed reciprocity appears for most participants to symbolise imbalance, expectedness or obligation, and a lack of affection. In response, participants tended to reject delayed reciprocity in favour of interpretations emphasising mutuality, family role duties and reciprocated love. Findings are discussed in relation to interpretive purposes, symbolic meanings of parent support, participant characteristics and cultural contexts.

Ageing of the population is posing new challenges for caretakers. This paper aims to examine: (a) age and gender differences in care provided by a domestic worker versus a family member in the performance of activities of daily living (ADL); (b) socio-demographic correlates of care during illness; and (c) self-reported physical, functional, and psychological health status in relation to care-giver. A cross-sectional household survey was conducted among 2,487 Kuwaiti nationals aged 50 years or older. This paper focuses on persons aged 70 or more. We found that domestic workers provided care to 28 per cent of men and 58 per cent of women who needed assistance with ADL; and to 14 per cent men and 51 per cent women during illness. These respondents ranked poorer on several health indicators and reported higher depressive symptoms score than those looked after by a family member. Logistic regression indicated that care by a domestic worker was approximately seven times more likely for women than men, about 10.8 times more likely for those without co-resident children compared with those who had three or more co-resident children, and 44 per cent less likely for the poorest compared with the richest persons. It appears that reliance on domestic workers is increasing and such reliance will remain necessary in the absence of culturally acceptable alternative institutional arrangements.

In this paper we examine whether there are systematic differences in the quality of life, depending on whether an individual is institutionalised or not, holding health status and income level constant. In doing this we use a nationally representative data set, the Health 2000 in Finland. When controlling for health and functional status, demographics and income level, we find that individuals who are living in old-age homes actually report significantly higher levels of subjective wellbeing than those who are living at home. We argue that this finding emerges from queuing for care homes. This implies that there are individuals living at home who are so frail that they should really be living in an old-age institution, but because of the queues for that particular mode of living, they are living at home with a decreased quality of life as a consequence.