Knitting alone – in the city – ageing and kinship availability as a vulnerability marker

Gustavo Sugahara,Viggo Nordvik

doi:10.1080/2156857x.2020.1782253

Gustavo Sugahara, Viggo Nordvik

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1080/2156857x.2020.1782253

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Abstract

ABSTRACT A basic premise underlying this article is that the social surroundings of individuals as they gradually age are not homogeneous and have influence on their well-being. Furthermore, if significant variation on the social context are found, they should also affect and be taking into account on the provision of different kinds of public welfare support. This paper analyses two particularly relevant variables influencing this context, location and family availability. We ask if a focus on head count demographics hide important aspects of the challenges posed upon welfare agencies when preparing for and undertaking social work in practice. In order to illustrate the magnitude of those differences we study the population composition in three regions in Norway: The municipality of Oslo, Akershus county and Helgeland. We combine population registers with a parent child identifier, which enables us to map the older person’s spousal situation, presence and location of children (and grandchildren), what we term life links adjusted shares. The results revealed that the female surplus in the older population is far stronger in Oslo than in the two other regions considered. Moreover, the combination of a higher prevalence of older people not residing together with a spouse, older people without children, and older peoples with fewer children, place Oslo’s older residents in a relatively more vulnerable position in terms of spouse and kinship availability. Hence, we will claim that there is a need for an increased attention to not only head count demographics, but also to the uneven geographic distribution of life links.

Highlights

Robert Putnam’s (2001) best seller’s title created an indelible picture of loneliness in many of his readers’ minds
There is an emerging strand of literature that addresses the uneven geography of ageing and consider how it is shaped by the interplay between immobility and mobility (Atkins 2018)
In short our research question is: Does a focus on head count demographics hide important aspects of the challenges posed upon welfare agencies when preparing for and undertaking social work in practise? Are one underestimating the challenges ageing poses upon major cities if one only use head count demographics as a tool?

Summary

Introduction

Robert Putnam’s (2001) best seller’s title created an indelible picture of loneliness in many of his readers’ minds. Population ageing is played out very differently in different parts of the country This is due to both coincidental historical legacies and mechanisms that generated specific city demographic patterns There is an increasing awareness of the need for what is termed gerontological social work. In order to illuminate this question we compare both traditional head count demographics and what we term life links adjusted shares of older people in three rather different regions: Oslo, Akershus and Helgeland. In short our research question is: Does a focus on head count demographics hide important aspects of the challenges posed upon welfare agencies when preparing for and undertaking social work in practise? As a part of this we refer to some prior empirical and theoretical studies that underpins our claims of the importance of the set of links

Background

Findings

Concluding remarks