Tineke Fokkema

Werkgevers scheppen met hun beleid en gedrag mogelijkheden voor ouderen om al dan niet langer door te werken, zelfs tot na de AOW-leeftijd. Hoe werkgevers omgaan met deze rol en hoe zij zich gedragen ten opzichte van oudere werknemers die doorwerken tot en na hun pensioenleeftijd is vooralsnog echter grotendeels onderbelicht gebleven in de wetenschappelijke literatuur. Redenen genoeg om daar de schijnwerper op te zetten.

Although older refugees can be seen as particularly vulnerable to social isolation and loneliness, they are often overlooked by ageing and migration scholars. This article addresses this research gap by identifying and examining potential drivers of loneliness among older refugees. The study analysed data from the first two waves of the IAB-BAMF-SOEP Survey of Refugees, focusing on 958 individuals aged 45 and older who arrived in Germany between 2013 and 2016. Nearly half of the participants reported symptoms of loneliness. The major contributing factors included poor health, financial strain, lack of family ties in Germany, limited contact with Germans, insecure residence status, and perceived hostility towards them. The study highlights the need for a range of interventions at multiple levels targeting not only the older refugees themselves but also institutional arrangements and the people of the host country.

Compared to their heterosexual peers, lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) older adults are at increased risk for poor mental well-being, including loneliness. Research suggests that this disparity is due to societal stigma and marginalization of sexual minorities. Most studies of LGB loneliness have examined overt forms of discrimination only, such as verbal harassment, and during one time period only -- usually the past twelve months. The current study examined the separate effects of self-perceived harassment and microaggressions during both early life and the past 12 months. The study also focused on chronic as opposed to transient loneliness, given its more negative impact on well-being. Online survey respondents were 1,165 LGB adults aged 50+ from 38 countries. Controlling for sociodemographic factors, results of logistic regression analysis indicated that past-year harassment is strongly associated with chronic loneliness (adjusted OR = 1.97, 95% CI = 1.09, 3.55) as are microaggressions (adjusted OR = 1.56, 95% CI = 1.08, 2.26). Neither form of early-life marginalization is significantly associated with current loneliness. While results suggest that older adults might be able to overcome the effects of early-life marginalization as they pertain to feelings of social connection, current experiences of marginalization continue to have a negative impact.

This special section brings together a set of four articles containing novel quantitative and qualitative research on older migrants in Europe. Detailed reporting and reflection is presented on fieldwork decisions and how certain challenges were tackled, and their implications. This introductory article aims to lay the groundwork for a better understanding and awareness of methodological and ethical challenges researchers face when designing and conducting empirical studies involving older migrants. Highlighted are the main methodological issues and ethical dilemmas we observe in studying older migrants, which can serve as a wake-up call for researchers to be more critical throughout the process. We end with a plea for more collaboration between researchers in the field of older migrants, by sharing their data despite potential methodological and ethical problems.

Motivated by the steady increase in the population of older migrants worldwide, this book acknowledges the diversity within this population group and provides an interdisciplinary and multi-level approach for studying older migrants’ strategies to overcome vulnerability. The book brings together original research on the topics of diversity among older migrants, social vulnerability, loneliness, (transnational) care and support networks. Based on a review of the growing literature on the topic of older migrants and anchored in the empirical findings discussed in the chapters, the book puts forward a general approach to study older migrants as social actors who develop strategies to surpass vulnerabilities. As documented by empirical research, older migrants mobilise their resources and are able to deal with structural opportunities and restrictions operating at meso and macro levels. These strategies are placed at the intersection between family obligations and resources, social netw...

Abstract Purpose Loneliness is a common problem that can affect an individual’s physical and mental wellbeing. While loneliness has been extensively researched among older people, relatively few studies have investigated loneliness in the adolescent population. In this study, we aim to explore the association between loneliness and contextual factors in a large sample of young people. Data and Methods Data stem from the “National Youth Health Monitor” of the Dutch region of South Limburg. Respondents were 7956 Dutch adolescents aged between 12 and 18. Multivariate logistic analyses were performed to assess the strength of association between loneliness and factors in the domains of family, school, and social media. Results In the current study, 19.4% of adolescents reported being lonely. Parental divorce, having an ill family member, being bullied at school, poor student-teacher relationship, and problematic use of social media were factors significantly associated with loneliness. Practice implication Family- and school-based awareness programs may help protect students from developing problematic levels of loneliness..

So far, little attention has been paid to contextual factors shaping loneliness and their interaction with individual characteristics. Moreover, the few existing studies have not included older migrants, identified as a group who are vulnerable to loneliness. This study examined the association between neighbourhood ethnic density (the proportion of own-group residents and the proportion of other ethnic residents in an area) and loneliness among older migrants. Furthermore, we investigated whether local language skills moderated this association. A population-based representative survey (The CHARM study, n = 1082, 57% men, mean age 63.2 years) and postal code area statistics were used to study Russian-speaking migrants aged 50 or older in Finland. The study design and data are hierarchical, with individuals nested in postcode areas. We accounted for this by estimating corresponding mixed models. We used a linear outcome specification and conducted logistic and ordinal robustness che...

ABSTRACT Cet article analyse dans quelle mesure les normes et obligations filiales sont déterminées aux Pays-Bas par le système de valeurs du groupe, la configuration familiale, la capacité à venir en aide aux autres, et les expériences vécues en matière d'entraide. Les données proviennent de la première vague de la Netherlands Kinship Panel Study, contribution néerlandaise au Generations and Gender Programme, et portent sur l'échantillon qui combine population générale et population immigrée. Les Hollandais se montrent réticents à l'idée de dicter aux autres la manière de se comporter envers les parents âgés. Le système de valeurs est le déterminant majeur des normes filiales pour les immigrés, les personnes peu instruites et les croyants. Contrairement à ce que pourrait suggérer la répartition traditionnelle des rôles entre les sexes, l'adhésion aux principes du devoir filial est moins forte pour les femmes que les hommes. Quant aux divorcés et enfants de divorcés, ils ne semblent pas moins attachés que les autres à leurs obligations filiales. Des tendances altruistes se manifestent dans le fait que les normes sont moins rigoureuses parmi les groupes les plus âgés de la population et les personnes sans enfant cohabitant. L'étude met enfin en évidence une forte concordance entre les normes filiales et les comportements réels d'entraide. In this article we examine to what extent norms of filial obligation in the Netherlands are shaped by group value patterns, family constellation, opportunities to help others, and actual experiences of support exchange. The data are drawn from the first wave of the combined main and migrant sample of the Netherlands Kinship Panel Study, the Dutch participant in the Generations and Gender Programme. The Dutch appear to be reluctant to prescribe how other people should behave towards their ageing parents. Value patterns are the strongest determinants of filial norms, with migrants, the low-educated, and persons with religious beliefs espousing strong filial norms. Contrary to what traditional gender roles would suggest, women less strongly endorse norms of filial obligation than men, and contrary to the notion that divorce weakens family ties, divorcees and children of divorce do not exhibit less commitment to filial norms. Altruistic tendencies are evident in the weaker filial norms among the older age groups, and among those with non-coresident children. Finally, the results show a high level of consonance between actual support exchanges and filial norms. Este artículo examina en qué medida las normas que rigen las obligaciones filiales en Holanda son determinadas por el sistema de valores de grupo, la configuración familiar, las posibilidades de ayudar a los demás y las experiencias concretas de ayuda mutua. Los datos provienen de la primera ola de la encuesta Netherlands Kinship Panel Study, contribución holandesa al Generations and Gender Programme, y conciernen una muestra que combina población general y populación inmigrada. Los holandeses son reticentes a la idea de decir a los otros cómo deben comportarse hacia sus padres mayores. El sistema de valores es el determinante principal de las normas filiales en los inmigrados y en las personas poco instruídas, y las creencias religiosas están relacionadas con normas filiales fuertes. Contrariamente a lo que el reparto tradicional de roles entre los sexos podría sugerir, las mujeres adhieren menos que los hombres a las normas de la obligación filial. Contrariamente a la idea según la cual el divorcio debilita los lazos familiares, los divorciados y los hijos de divorciados no manifiestan menos adhesión a las normas filiales. Tendencias altruistas se manifiestan en el hecho de que las normas filiales son menos fuertes en los grupos de más edad y en las personas que no viven con hijos. Finalmente, el estudio muestra una alta concordancia entre los comportamientos reales de ayuda mutua y las normas filiales.

Within the linked fields of population, migration, and ageing, international retirement migration (IRM) has emerged as a strong focus for empirical research. Thus far, the classic studies have been on European North–South IRM, with a specific concentration on iconic regions such as the Costa del Sol, southern France, and Tuscany. But the geography of IRM is constantly changing, as prior destination regions become “saturated” and perhaps too expensive, so that new “frontiers” are opened up. One such frontier is the Italian region of Marche, now seen as a cheaper and more “authentic” region than Tuscany. This paper uses interview narratives from 69 older age British, Dutch, and German people who have relocated, as either permanent settlers or seasonal residents, in the Marche, in order to answer two questions. The questions relate first to the main drivers of IRM at the decision‐making level and, second, to the experiences of living there, including advantages and disadvantages. We find the participants for the most part engaged in active ageing, growing their own produce, and joining in local community life and are appreciative of the beauty of the hilly landscape. However, “full” integration is hampered by language and cultural barriers, whereas the bureaucracy is their main complaint.