This article explores subjective perceptions of retirement in France, using original quantitative data on the customers of a not-for-profit insurance company. The sample contains individuals aged 40–84, who are either in the labour force (N = 923) or retired (N = 705). Perceptions of retirement are measured using closed questions on views of the retirement transition (these views can be positive, negative or neutral) and definitions of retirement (retirement can be interpreted as a period of freedom, boredom, greater risk of precariousness, etc.). Using a number of different social indicators, we examine whether differences in social conditions translate into heterogeneous perceptions. We also investigate whether social differences in perceptions fade away with increasing age. Both working-age individuals and retirees generally have a positive view of the retirement transition and often define retirement as a period of freedom. Perceptions of retirement are shaped by social conditions: a higher level of education and income, greater wealth, better health and stronger social involvement go hand in hand with rosier perceptions. Moreover, we uncover a strengthening of this social gradient with increasing age. Finally, perceptions are positively correlated with satisfaction in various domains, for retirees.

With China's rapid urbanisation, many residents, especially older adults, are suffering from psychological problems induced by rural-to-urban relocation. This study examines the association between older adults’ rural place attachment and their depression after relocation, as well as the protective roles of neighbourhood social cohesion and sense of community in the relocation place. Chinese older adults (N = 224) who relocated from rural villages to urban communities completed a survey for this study. The results showed that older adults with stronger rural place attachment experienced more depressive symptoms and a lesser sense of community in the relocation place. In addition, the association between rural place attachment and depression was weakened by neighbourhood social cohesion. That is, compared with older adults perceiving low neighbourhood social cohesion, the positive association between rural place attachment and depression was weaker for older adults perceiving high neighbourhood social cohesion. Furthermore, neighbourhood social cohesion's protective role depended on sense of community. In particular, neighbourhood social cohesion buffered the association between rural place attachment and depression for older adults with a strong sense of community but not for older adults with a weak sense of community. These results have implications for developing resources within neighbourhoods and communities to promote relocation adjustment for older adults.

Household entrepreneurship is a basic unit of entrepreneurial activity, and a crucial aspect of connecting personal and social wellbeing. This study examines the relationship between the proportion of elderly family members and household entrepreneurship. This study also assesses the mediating effect of the middle-aged generation's support to their parents and the moderating effect of the parents’ support with respect to the proportion of elderly family members and entrepreneurship. We use data from the China Family Panel Studies. We adopt the instrumental variable method to deal with endogeneity, robustness and credibility of the estimation results. The results show that a higher proportion of elderly family members impedes household entrepreneurship. Moreover, the financial and instrumental support provided by the middle-aged generation to their parents significantly mediates the relationship between the proportion of elderly family members and household entrepreneurship. In turn, parents’ financial support to the middle-aged generation moderates the focal relationship; however, parents’ instrumental support does not moderate the focal relationship. These findings emphasise the need to develop a comprehensive social security network for older adults that will indirectly promote household entrepreneurship, and improve personal and social wellbeing.

The concept of intergenerational fairness has taken hold across Europe since the 2008 financial crisis. In the United Kingdom (UK), focus on intergenerational conflict has been further sharpened by the 2016 ‘Brexit’ vote to take the UK out of the European Union. However, current debates around intergenerational fairness are taking place among policy makers, the media and in think-tanks. In this way, they are conversations about, but not with, people. This article draws on qualitative interviews with 40 people aged 19–85 years and living in North-East England and Edinburgh, Scotland's capital city, to explore whether macro-level intergenerational equity discourses resonate in people's everyday lives. We find widespread pessimism around young people's prospects and evidence of a fracturing social contract, with little faith in the principles of intergenerational equity, equality and reciprocity upon which welfare states depend. Although often strong, the kin contract was not fully ameliorating resentment and frustration among participants observing societal-level intergenerational unfairness mirrored within families. However, blame for intergenerational inequity was placed on a remote state rather than on older generations. Despite the precariousness of the welfare state, participants of all ages strongly supported the principle of state support, rejecting a system based on family wealth and inherited privilege. Rather than increased individualism, participants desired strengthened communities that encouraged greater intergenerational mixing.

Increasing evidence has shown that an active, socially engaged lifestyle in leisure time might protect older adults against the decline of cognitive function. It remains unclear, however, which types of leisure activities are more beneficial to maintain cognitive function, and whether there are gender differences in the association between leisure activities and cognitive function. We used a two-wave of panel data from 1,018 older adults aged 60 and older in rural China to examine the lag effects of different types of leisure activities on cognitive functioning and to identify the gender differences in their impacts on cognition in rural China. Ordinary least-squares regression models showed that high physical activities were associated with better cognitive function. High intensity of cognitive activities and engaging in physical activities have a protective effect on cognitive function among older men rather than older women. Further, we found that cognitive activities had a stronger effect on cognitive function among older men than older women. It is important to consider gender-specific intervention in leisure activities to maintain cognitive function among older adults.

The article reports the perspectives of senior care staff as part of a study exploring personalisation in care homes. Behind the conceptual sword and shield of ‘choice and control’ associated with personalisation in the United Kingdom (UK) lie irreconcilable flaws, thrown into sharp relief in this context. Personalisation, which originated in community-based social services, has recently been extended into UK care homes. This service development has been stimulated by a desire to promote a humane response to caring for an ageing population, whilst containing costs. Seemingly promoting a relational approach, personalisation also entails consumerist underpinnings, with consequent tensions resulting in weakened policy mechanisms. Discussing findings pertaining to ‘food and eating’, the article illustrates the complex interplay between supporting resident capabilities with poor staff ratios; when choice is not really choice at all; balancing choice, risk and the duty of care; and responding to diverse perspectives about what matters. This complexity reflects the highly skilled nature of care work as promoted by care ethicists. The tensions permeated care home life and found parallels in the wider system of care. Honesty about the limitations of choice and control is essential to achieve ethical care in care homes. The care home constitutes fertile ground for exposing and exploring the shortcomings of the ‘logic of choice’ and for advancing a more relational, inclusive and sustainable conceptualisation of personalisation.

In urban China, the social welfare system and the family structure have changed dramatically, while gender norms are still deep-rooted, particularly among older adults. Under this social, demographic and cultural context, this study aims to take a gender-specific perspective to investigate whether and how gender moderates the roles of pensions, social support and self-care ability on older adults’ life satisfaction. Based on the survey data collected from 2,047 older adults aged 65 years and over in urban China in 2018, multiple linear regressions were applied to explore the moderation effects. The results show that the pension is important to older adults’ life satisfaction regardless of gender. For social support, the association between family support and life satisfaction is stronger for older men than for older women; interdependent social support, especially being a confidant, matters more to women than to men. The interaction between self-care ability and gender reveals some interesting patterns: self-care ability is found to have a positive association with women's life satisfaction but a negative association with men's. This study contributes to the existing literature by demonstrating how gender intertwines with the most important factors of older adult's life satisfaction in China – a society with strong gender norms and a patriarchal culture. These findings could be relevant to other Asian societies.

Person-centred care requires improved documentation of nursing home resident wellbeing, e.g. by nursing staff proxy assessments. Previous studies mainly focused on proxy self-report agreement of quality of life of people with dementia, using lengthy questionnaires. This is the first study to investigate how well nursing staff assess residents’ wellbeing after training, using a single-question assessment method of happiness and engagement. We conducted a cross-sectional mixed-method study, including proxy assessments from 49 nursing staff, and self-reports from 49 nursing home residents without dementia (mean age 85). We explored agreement between colleagues, and between proxy assessments and self-reports, and potential nursing staff characteristics associated to this (age, experience, hours worked per week). Brief written motivations were evaluated on nursing staffs’ understanding of the happiness and engagement concepts. The results showed low agreement between colleagues, and low agreement between proxy assessments and self-reports. Nursing staff assessed happiness and engagement substantially higher than residents’ self-reports. Hours worked per week was related to happiness proxy assessments, but none of the included nursing staff characteristics were related to proxy self-report agreement. Nursing staff interpreted the concepts in diverse ways. Overestimating resident wellbeing when using this single-assessment method may undermine subsequent efforts to improve wellbeing. We could not identify which nursing staff could best provide wellbeing assessments. For now, proxy wellbeing assessments should always be combined with regular self-reports whenever possible.

There is a need for improved knowledge about how workplace conditions and organisational factors may obstruct or facilitate work in late life. By means of both quantitative and qualitative data, this study aims to explore retirement preferences among employees (aged 55 and older) in a large Swedish health-care organisation and to identify work-related motives influencing their retirement preferences. The quantitative analysis showed large variation in retirement preferences in the organisation. The qualitative results were summarised into two overarching types of motives for late and early retirement preferences, general and group-specific. The general motives were shared by the early and late preference groups, and included recognition, flexibility, health and work motivation. The group-specific motives were exclusively related to either an early or a late retirement preference. Criticism towards the organisation and strenuous working conditions were specific motives for an early retirement preference, while positive accounts of work and a wish to utilise one's own competencies as well as being financially dependent on work was stated as specific motives for wanting to retire late. The results illustrate the need to improve organisational practices and routines, as well as working conditions, in order to make an extended working life accessible for more than already-privileged groups of employees.

A grounded theory approach, consistent with the work of Strauss and Corbin, was used to undertake semi-structured interviews with 17 older people, to explore their experiences of living in a care home, during the four- to six-week period following the move. Purposive sampling was initially adopted, thereafter, theoretical sampling was employed to recruit individuals identified by care managers within older peoples’ community teams and care home managers within a large Health and Social Care Trust in the United Kingdom. Consistent with grounded theory methodology, data collection and analysis occurred simultaneously. Constant comparative analysis underpinned data analysis and data management techniques. Data analysis revealed five distinct categories that captured these experiences. These were: (a) wanting to connect – ‘I am so lost here’, (b) wanting to adapt – ‘Well mentally you have to make the best of it’, (c) waiting for assistance – ‘it's a frustration for me’, (d) ‘waiting on the end’ – I am making no plans’ and (e) wanting to re-establish links with family and home – ‘I love getting home and I like getting out to the town’. Together these five categories formed the basis of the core category, ‘Waiting and Wanting’, which encapsulates the initial adaptation experiences of the men and women in the study. Findings indicate that individuals were dependent on others to create a sense of belonging, independence and wellbeing. Moreover, risk aversive practices were perceived as a threat to individuals’ independence and autonomy. Recommendations include the need to amend policy and practice for the development of a bespoke induction programme for each resident facilitated by a senior member of the care home staff working in partnership with individuals and families, in addition to the health and social care team, to support a more positive transition for new residents, relatives and care home staff.

Although older migrants in Southern Europe are increasing in number, relatively little attention has been paid to their care needs and resources. The availability of informal care is an important determinant of wellbeing in later life and norms regulating filial obligations have an important role in affecting the quality and quantity of support received. Using data from a qualitative survey conducted in Italy, this article sheds light on the social norms regulating filial obligations towards older parents among natives and three groups of immigrants: Maghrebis, Chinese and Filipinos. The results indicate a number of commonalities between the four different groups considered, such as: the principle of delayed reciprocity at the basis of filial support obligations; a gender bias in attributing the most psychologically, physically and time-demanding caring obligations to adult daughters and daughters-in-law; and a preference for intergenerational residential autonomy shared by Italian, Filipinos and, to a lesser extent, Maghrebi respondents. At the same time, numerous differences emerge between natives and immigrants, and between immigrant groups. The most significant differences are observed regarding: the possibility of resorting to a paid care-giver, which is more common among Italians and, to a lesser extent, Filipino respondents; and a stronger gender bias among the Chinese and Maghrebi groups, i.e. they attribute the majority of personal care responsibilities to daughters and daughters-in-law.

As an important source of income for elderly people, pensions have a great impact on their wellbeing. There are three different pension systems in China (the Old-age Insurance System for Government Agencies and Institutions (OISGAI), the Basic Old-age Insurance System for Urban Employees (BOISUE) and the Social Insurance of the Old-age Pension for Urban and Rural Residents (SIOPURR)). This study empirically analyses the impact of various pension types on the happiness of elderly people in China and further explores the potential impact mechanism using the 2014 China Family Panel Studies data. The study suggests that first, receiving pensions from OISGAI, BOISUE and SIOPURR is positively correlated with the happiness level of elderly people. Second, the sense of happiness of elderly people who receive BOISUE is higher than that of those receiving SIOPURR, which is mainly caused by the difference in the level of pension benefits. When the level of benefits is controlled for, there is no significant difference between these two groups. Third, when they have the same level of pension benefits, the happiness of elderly people who receive OISGAI is significantly higher than that of those who receive pensions from the other two systems, which is possibly related to the hidden ‘special’ government guarantee and the difference of the growth rate of the benefit level.

The subjective experience of ageism among older men has received little research attention. This study examines older Canadian men's experiences with and perceptions of ageism during interactions with physicians. In-depth, face-to-face interviews were conducted with 21 men aged 55 years and over. The findings indicate a seeming lack of awareness of ageism among many, and many did not believe ageism was likely to occur during patient–physician interaction. Negative stereotyping of older patients was common. A large majority of the participants reported that they had not personally experienced ageism during a medical encounter, nor were they concerned about it. Numerous rationales were proffered as explanations of why a particular participant had not experienced ageism and who was more likely to be a target.

Retirement villages are a model of extra-care housing, offering purpose-designed housing that incorporates both care services and a range of non-care-related facilities and activities. These generate opportunities for formal and informal social activity, and promote community engagement, solidarity between residents, and active and independent ageing. Providers suggest that retirement villages are able to foster an environment rich in social capital. This study's purpose is to review and summarise key findings on the topic of social capital in retirement villages in the gerontological literature. Social capital is defined as both an individual attribute of single actors and a feature of communities as a whole. A clear conceptualisation of social capital is used to organise the reviewed studies along different dimensions: on an individual level, social networks, trustworthiness and obligations are differentiated, while the collective level distinguishes between system control, system trust and system morality. Thirty-four studies are reviewed. While retirement villages are generally described as friendly places with widespread helping behaviour where new friends are made, research has also highlighted the difficulty of socially integrating the frail and very old. While, in particular, social networks and system morality have received much attention, there is a clear need for future research into the other domains of social capital.

This paper develops knowledge of the logistics of moving house amongst older people living in insecure housing. These people typically do not move once and settle into a new house, but face ongoing moves driven by factors including housing affordability, tenure conditions and eviction. The paper identifies four domains of experience faced by people undergoing cumulative, involuntary residential moves: the material (process of relocating oneself and possessions), economic (costs of moving house), embodied (physical experience) and affective (how relocation is experienced and felt). The logistics of relocation are examined through the experiences of single older women living in insecure housing in the greater Sydney region of Australia. The accounts of these women foreground the costs and challenges of insecure housing that are a consequence of relocation. Conceptually this work contributes to understandings of mobility-based disadvantage in older age through drawing out the ways that the logistics of moving house – of relocating oneself and possessions – contribute in distinct ways to mobility-based disadvantage through risks to identity and senses of home. Empirically it addresses gaps in gerontological and housing scholarship through developing knowledge of the logistics and experiences of ongoing, involuntary residential moves.

As Indonesia experiences rapid growth of the ageing population, the government's attention has turned to the wellbeing of older people. This study aims to review critically the construction of older people's identity and care within regional ageing policies in Indonesia. Working from a critical gerontology perspective, a critical discourse analysis of 16 regional ageing policies identified two constructions, labelled ‘material’ and ‘cultural’ ageing, which were used to position older people. The analysis showed that ‘material ageing’ positions older people at the intersection of ‘decline’ and ‘successful ageing’ discourses, while ‘cultural ageing’ positions older people's welfare at the intersection of ‘public responsibility’ and ‘family obligation’ discourses. These discursive constructions in the policy documents have both micro (interpersonal) and macro (structural) constructive effects. At the micro-level, the regional ageing policies stand at a crossroad between empowering and marginalising older people and their families. While the dominant discourse of ‘successful ageing’ encourages older people to be healthy, it marginalises those who do not, or cannot, meet its criteria, undermining a rehabilitative approach as a policy priority. In addition, the rights of the family are overlooked, despite being a pivotal element of cultural ageing. At the macro level, a moral dilemma appears in defining the public and private domains of older people's welfare. Eligibility requirements for state assistance (due to budgetary constraints) ensure that elder care is often relegated to the private sphere, without support. Recommendations for policy improvement are discussed, including the recognition of families’ rights and the importance of local cultural practices in providing care for older people.

Images of what retirement is and ought to be are changing. Older workers are being encouraged to work for longer, at the same time, older adults increasingly voice expectations of a ‘third age’ of active engagement and new life prospects. In this article, we draw on the literature on older workers’ work patterns and retirement transitions (noting push/pull/stay/stuck/jump factors), and on scholarship on the changing social meaning of old age, most importantly the notions of a ‘third’ and ‘fourth’ age. The analysis is based on qualitative interviews with 28 employees in the private sector in Norway, aged between 55 and 66 years. Based on the interviews, we propose three ideal-typical approaches to the work–retirement transition: ‘the logic of deadline’, ‘the logic of negotiation’ and ‘the logic of averting retirement’. The ideal-types are defined by the degree to which informants assume agency in the workplace, their orientation towards work versus retirement and the degree to which they expect to exercise agency in retirement. We emphasise how retirement decisions are informed by notions of the meaning of ageing, while also embedded in relationships with employers and partners.

Changes in population and family structures are altering the provision of care for dependent older people. In Southern European countries like Spain, such care is still largely provided by family, typically spouses and adult daughters. However, an increasing proportion of women have entered the labour force, thereby affecting their availability. To study the demand and supply balance of informal care and to quantify the need for formal care when there is a deficit, we have developed a mixed microsimulation–agent-based model (ABM). Based on nuptiality, fertility and mortality levels of cohorts born at ten-year intervals between 1908 and 1968, the model starts with a microsimulation of the lifecycle of individuals and their close relatives until death. The ABM then determines the amount of time available or needed to care for family members, starting from age 50. Estimates are derived from Spanish survey data on employment, disability and time of care received. Surprisingly, results show that the family care deficit was greater in the older cohorts due to higher mortality and thus a greater impact of widowhood. However, for future elderly persons, we foresee that persistent below-replacement fertility and, paradoxically, the prolongation of the lifespan of couples will increase the demand for formal care as there will be more couples with both members incapacitated but without children to take care of them.

This article discusses how three Finnish regional newspapers represented older people's digital competences and internet use in their daily coverage. The study explored media representations from the perspective of social representations and sought to answer the following questions: In what kind of internet user roles do the articles portray older people? How and with what kind of images do the articles portray older people's digital competences in various internet user roles? How are older people positioned at a societal level in the articles? The analysis revealed that older people were portrayed as incompetent outcasts of a digitalised society. However, there was a clear difference according to whether older people were portrayed as recipients of public services or as consumers of private services. As targets of public services, older people were predominantly portrayed as happy targets, who welcomed the services provided for them. This result can be interpreted as part of the promotion of government digitalisation policies.

This study uses constructivist grounded theory to explore older women's responses to the unexpected need to provide financial, emotional and residential support to their adult children who were experiencing problems with mental illness, substance abuse and/or absence of employment. Twenty-nine American women (>60) were interviewed:55 per cent were poor and half were women of colour. Using the theoretical model of intergenerational ambivalence, three types of structural ambivalence are discovered: mothers’ reactions to their adult children's behaviour that violate expectations for reciprocity; women's dismayed reactions to their adult children's aggressive behaviours towards themselves as their mothers; and the women's struggle regarding balancing their role as a mother to protect their adult children alongside their wish and identified needs for self-care. All of the conflicts were expressed within the frame of their role of mother. The internalised mandate to be ‘a good mother’ resulted in many experiencing shame, self-blame and guilt, and this self-blame was an obstacle to reaching out for help. This study adds to the growing body of feminist gerontological research and examines the ideological and structural variables that influence the predominance of female unpaid family care-givers in later life. The dilemma for older women with troubled adult children is both personal and political.