Coping strategies for happy childless ageing: an explorative study in Poland

Abstract

Childless older people face many challenges resulting from their lack of children that may have an impact on their subjective well-being, especially in a country where family ties are strong, and children are the main source of support. In this paper, we examine the coping strategies that childless seniors in Poland employ in order to mitigate various risks related to having no offspring. We use a qualitative approach, drawing upon in-depth interviews with 42 childless men and women aged 65 or older. We frame our analyses within the life course approach, stressing the biographical development of coping strategies over the life course. Our results corroborate previous findings, and show that the major challenges older childless people in Poland face are related to feeling lonely, and to having insufficient (practical) support and care in case of dependency. We describe the actions the respondents consciously took in response to these challenges, and examine how these actions changed over the life course. The strategies aimed at promoting healthy ageing or helping older people expand their social networks are strongly in line with the respondents’ personal predispositions and earlier lifestyles and experiences.