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Respite, renewal, retirement and tensions: Australian Men's Sheds and the impact on significant others

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 August 2021

Annette Foley Open the ORCID record for Annette Foley [Opens in a new window] ,
Barry Golding  and
Helen Weadon
Annette Foley*
Affiliation:
School of Education, Federation University Australia, Ballarat, Victoria, Australia
Barry Golding
Affiliation:
School of Education, Federation University Australia, Ballarat, Victoria, Australia
Helen Weadon
Affiliation:
School of Business, Federation University Australia, Ballarat, Victoria, Australia
*
*Corresponding author. Email: A.Foley@federation.edu.au
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Abstract

The health and wellbeing benefits of Men's Sheds to the men who participate have had significant research attention for over a decade. However, there has been little research into the broader impacts of Men's Sheds, particularly in relation to the impacts on significant others in the lives of the men who participate. Our paper aims to redress this lack of research by focusing on the interrelated perceptions and experiences of men and those closest to them in four Men's Sheds in regional Victoria, Australia. The research shows that the partners and carers of ‘shedders’ reported that the men's participation not only benefited the men but also had benefits for their significant others. The study also showed that the partners of shedders in the study found that their individual and joint adjustment to retirement was in some cases assisted by the men enjoying the social and structured environment of the Men's Shed, while in other cases it was seen by partners as an over-commitment and impacting negatively on the marriage. The findings also shed some important light on some tensions experienced by the partners associated with carer burden and adjustments to retirement.

Keywords

Men's Shedspartnerssignificant othersageingwellbeingcarersretirement
Type
Article
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 43 , Issue 6 , June 2023 , pp. 1367 - 1388
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

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