Social inclusion of elders in families

Abstract

In this chapter, Jim Ogg and Sylvie Renaut explore debates around older people's involvement in multi-generational family relationships. Given that families have consistently been shown to provide the major context for the mitigation of social exclusion risks, the chapter's focus is on contemporary features of family relationships in European societies. Adopting an intergenerational perspective, the authors make the case that population ageing has not resulted in the weakening of family ties but signifies a changing balance between older and younger people in society. The chapter's conceptual framework reflects four key themes: the notion of intergenerational solidarity is viewed alongside the related ideas of intergenerational conflict and ambivalence; the changing dynamics in societies' acknowledgement and support for old age as a period of the life course; the need for social inclusion as a basis for ‘a society for all ages’; and the value of fostering intergenerational family policies.