Swiss Retirees as “Active Agers”: A Critical Look at this New Social Role

Older Adults and Civic Engagement in Rural Areas of the Czech Republic

“…The most prevalent source of information on local happenings was interpersonal relationships. Discussing local issues with neighbours and acquaintances was the main source of local information for 56% of interviewees, while the same percentage of respondents followed local media such as municipal newsletters or public-address systems, or other means of 7 Cramer´s V coefficient = 0,281 (driver´s licence holders), 0,293 (frequency of car drivers), both significant p. < 0.001. communication provided by the local authority (56%). As one would expect, mass media (television, radio, newspapers) were slightly less prevalent in providing local information (42%), as was the Internet (14%).…”

“…Women tended to be less mobile than men, which could be partially due to the earlier retirement age for women in the Czech Republic, as well as to the lower proportion of women among both driverslicence holders and active drivers. 7 The other measure of place attachment was more socio-psychological in character, the question relating to feelings of belonging vs. the feeling of being alienated from the neighbourhood, i.e., "not really recognising it anymore", reflecting also the general locational satisfaction. This was measured on a 5-point scale, with 87% feeling still (very) much at home, 10% choosing the midpoint, and only 3% of interviewees feeling (really) alienated from their living environment.…”

“…In later age, being freed from the necessity to work for pay can, on the other hand, serve as a trigger for a new or intensified career in the civic arena. This typically applies for men, who are more prone to occupying publicly visible positions, while women tend to find their activities within their families and care responsibilities (Arber, Davidson, & Ginn, 2003;Ilinca et al, 2016;Calasanti, Repetti, 2018). This is also reflected in the fact that politics as a life domain increases steeply in importance for men as they age (Vidovićová, 2018).…”

Approaching Retirement After a Working Life in Poverty

“…Retirement 'has been recently been reinvented as a time of transition to a new life, rather than simply the end of an old one' (Hockey and James 2003, p. 102). Although it is increasingly understood in terms of positive productivity (Johnson and Mutchler 2014) and more 'active ageing' (Calasanti and Repetti 2018;Zaidi and Howse 2017), which provide opportunities to enjoy a dynamic 'third age' (Formosa 2014;Laslett 1989), Foster (2018) points out that much of the emphasis on active ageing has been on government attempts to increase productivity and efforts to try and get people to work longer. Even around 20 years ago, Scales and Scase (2000) observed a polarisation emerging between affluent early retirees (e.g., from professional and managerial groups) and disadvantaged older workers, many of whom are working class, and, because of the raising of SPA, are often forced to continue in low-paid employment through financial necessity, despite the wish from many to retire.…”

Land, History and People: Older people’s Stories about Meaningful Activities and Social Relations in Later Life

“…In addition, policy documents increasingly question the picture of older people as a burden, and stress that people above retirement age are indeed a major resource to society -for instance, through voluntary work and consumption (Zaidi and Howse 2017). Several scholars have, however, criticised the current obsession with active ageing present in policy and research (Calasanti and Repetti 2018;Ranzijn 2010;van Dyk 2014;Wilińska 2012;Segal 2013). Lamb (2014), for instance, argues that the cultural model of successful ageing is counterproductive because it neglects the realities of lived life and leads to seeing decline and dependency as personal failures.…”