Journal of Aging Studies 67 (2023) 101188
ELSEVIER
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Journal of Aging Studies
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jaging
Life-course transitions and exclusion from social relations in the lives of
older men and women
Anna U r b a n i a k a
' g
' , Kieran Walsh1
', Lucie Galcanova Batistac
, Marcela Petrova Kafkovad
,
Celia Sheridanb
, Rodrigo Serrate
, Franziska Rothe1
a
University of Vienna, Sociology Department, Rooseveltplatz 2, 1090 Vienna, Austria
b
National University of Ireland, Galway, NUI Galway, Irish Centre for Social Gerontology, Institute for Lifecourse & Society, Corrib Village, Ireland
c
Masaryk University, Faculty of Social Studies, Office for Population Studies, Dpt. of Sociology, Jostova 10, 60200 Brno, Czechia
d
Masaryk University, Faculty of Social Studies: Brno, Czechia, Jostova 218, 602 00 Brno-s&ed, Czechia
e
University of Barcelona, Department of Cognition, Development and Educational Psychology, Barcelona, Spain
f
NOVA Norwegian Social Research, Oslo Metropolitan University, P.O. Box 4, St. Olavs plass, NO-0130 Oslo, Norway
g
Uniwersytet Ekonomiczny w Krakowie, ul. Rakowicka 27, 31-510 Krakow, Poland
A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T
Keywords:
Exclusion
Social relations
Bereavement
Ill-health
Relocation
Older adults
There is increasing interest across European contexts in promoting active social lives in older age, and counteracting
pathways and outcomes related to social isolation and loneliness for men and women in later life. This
is evidenced within national and European level policy, including the 2021 Green Paper on Ageing and its
concern with understanding how risks can accrue for European ageing populations in the relational sphere.
Research indicates that life-course transitions can function as a source of these risks, leading to a range of
potentially exclusionary impacts for the social relations of older men and women. Findings presented in this
paper are drawn from the qualitative component of a larger European mixed-methods study on exclusion from
social relations (GENPATH: A life course perspective on the GENdered PATHways of social exclusion in later life,
and its consequences for health and well-being). We use data from 119 in-depth interviews from four jurisdictions:
Austria, Czechia, Ireland and Spain. This research employed an approach that focused on capturing lived
experienced insights related to relational change across the life course, the implications of these changes for
multifaceted forms of exclusion from social relations and the role of gender in patterning these changes and
implications. We focused on transitions that commonly emerged across those jurisdictions for older people: onset
of ill-health, bereavement, retirement and relocation. We found that these transitions translate into multidimensional
experiences of exclusion from social relations in the lives of older men and women by constraining
their social networks, support networks, social opportunities and intimate relationships.
Introduction
There is increasing interest across European contexts in promoting
active social lives in older age and counteracting pathways and outcomes
related to social exclusion and loneliness for men and women i n
later life. This is evidenced within national and European level policy,
including the 2021 Green Paper on Ageing (European Commission,
2021) and its concern with understanding how risks can accrue for
European ageing populations in the relational sphere. Research indicates
that life-course transitions can function as a source of these risks,
leading to a range of potentially exclusionary impacts on the social
relations of older men and women (Cotterell, Buffel, & Phillipson,
2018). Transitions, in some cases, represent significant turning points in
people's social connectivity, challenging and disorientating older adult
lives, and may result in the disruption or depletion of social resources
and opportunities (Almeida & Wong, 2009). Studies have highlighted
links between major life transitions (such as retirement, bereavement,
the onset of ill-health, and relocation) and disconnection from intimate
relationships, deficient social networks, insufficient social support, and/
or reduced social opportunities (Dupuis-Blanchard, Neufeld, & Strang,
2009; Guiaux, Van Tilburg, & Broese Van Groenou, 2007). The meanings
assigned to transitions and the sort of ways individuals and societies
* Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: urbaniaa@uek.krakow.pl (A. Urbaniak), kieran.walsh@nuigalway.ie (K. Walsh), galcanov@fss.muni.cz (L.G. Batista), kafkova@fss.muni.cz
(M.P. Kafkova), C.SHERIDAN18@nuigalway.ie (C. Sheridan), rserrat@ub.edu (R. Serrat), franzisk@oslomet.no (F. Rothe).
https://doi.Org/10.1016/j.jaging.2023.101188
Received 14 February 2023; Received in revised form 8 October 2023; Accepted 13 October 2023
Available online 21 October 2023
0890-4065/© 2023 Published by Elsevier Inc.
A. Urbaniak et al
manage their effects have been shown to be critical considerations
which highlight the combined influence of individual subjective experiences
and wider social structures on outcomes (Bryant & Charmaz,
2007; Walsh & Urbaniak, 2023). However, there are important gaps in
knowledge that compromise our understanding of how gender affects
these transitions (Holman & Walker, 2021).
First, even with a focus on relational outcomes, studies can fail to
provide an in-depth understanding of individual (re)interpretations of
different impacts of transitions experienced by older men and women in
the domain of social relations (Burholt et al., 2020; Ejlskov, B0ggild,
Kuh, & Stafford, 2020). This means we are likely to continue to lack a
full understanding of the sort of meanings that people assign to both
transition-linked changes in social relations and the relational experience
linked to transition processes. Second, and critically, while there
has been a long-standing interest in the role of gender in experiencing
isolation in older age in quantitative studies (Cohen-Mansfield, Hazan,
Lerman, & Shalom, 2016), understandings of lived gendered experiences
in the domain of exclusion from social relations remain underdeveloped
(Barnes & Parry, 2004; Calasanti & Bowen, 2006; Holman &
Walker, 2021). This is a damaging gap in knowledge that impinges our
capacity to assess the degree to which the type, timing and nature of
transitions might influence social relations in later life differently for
men and women. It also limits our capacity to secure objectives around
combatting unequal ageing for men and women (OECD, 2017). Third,
and despite the relevance of relational transitions to policy and practice
goals concerning social connection in European ageing societies, there
has been insufficient engagement with the lived experiences of the impacts
of transitions on the social relations of older men and women in
different European contexts. Consequently, there is a lack of collective
ability to identify the sort of major life transitions that can generate
shared impacts and experiences, and that could be usefully targeted and
supported through European-wide as well as national policies.
As a first step in addressing these combined deficits, this paper explores
the common life-course transitions that have influenced the experiences
of exclusion from social relations for older men and women
across four European countries. In doing so, our study illuminates how
gender influences the (re)interpretation of personal experiences,
contributing to scientific knowledge around the role of gender in social
exclusion and life course transitions. Building upon Grenier's foundational
work (Grenier, 2012), which challenged conventional models
based solely on age and stage, we delve deeper into how transitions are
experienced and lived, especially in relation to gender. Our empirical
investigation adds depth and specificity to the existing body of knowledge,
enriching our understanding of these complex processes.
Although there is no unified definition of social relations, with some
scholars emphasizing specific connections between individuals and
others underscoring a "social realm" that is formed by the allocation of
vital social resources (Crossley, 2013), research suggests that life course
transitions may have implications for social networks, social interactions
and social identity (Alwin, 2012; Bengtson, Elder Jr, & Putney,
2012; Dannefer & Settersten, 2010). Quantitative studies provide
evidence that transitions underwent in older age, such as retirement
(Shin, Park, Amano, Kwon, & Kim, 2020), widowhood (Stipkova, 2021)
or the onset of ill-health (Hilberink, van der Slot, & Klem, 2017) can
disrupt social ties and reduce the quantity and quality of contacts in later
life.
Even though there has been long-standing interest in the nature of
social relations and disadvantage in later life, understandings of experiences
of exclusion from social relations remain underdeveloped (Litwin,
Levinsky, & Schwartz, 2020). In this paper, and as defined by
Aartsen et al. (2021) we understand exclusion from social relations for
older men and women as a situation in which people are socially and
emotionally disconnected from adequate levels of intimate relationships,
social networks, social support, and/or social opportunities.
The analysis focuses on the lived experiences of older men and
women from Austria, Czechia, Ireland and Spain. Those jurisdictions
Journal of Aging Studies 67 (2023) 101188
were selected as they represent different welfare regimes illustrating the
complex interplay of social, economic, and political factors through
which individual experiences of transitions and their outcomes may be
shaped (Orloff, 1993). These countries represent a diverse range of
welfare state models in Europe, including the corporatist welfare state
(Austria), the Mediterranean welfare state (Spain), the liberal welfare
state (Ireland), and the post-communist welfare state (Czech Republic).
Those different regimes have different levels of formal support to help
people through transitions as each of the included countries has a unique
historical context that has shaped its welfare state policies and practices
(Esping-Andersen, 1999).
Exploring gender differences in social exclusion during later life transitions
- state of the art
Men and women tend to have different life trajectories (Springer,
Hankivsky, & Bates, 2012), which means that they can either experience
different transitions or experience them at a different stage in life
(Umberson, Lin, & Cha, 2022). Therefore, in considering the role of
gender in transitions and transition trajectories we follow the life-course
approach and consider the role of broader socio-historical context as
well as cumulative (dis)advantage in shaping gender experiences of
transitions (Dannefer, 2003; Ejlskov et al., 2020; Ferraro & Shippee,
2009; O'Rand, 2002; Umberson, Williams, Thomas, Liu, & Thomeer,
2014).
Life-course perspectives are concerned with investigating the origins
of behaviours or states and their evolution over an individual's lifespan
in order to construct a comprehensive understanding of how present
situations are influenced by past experiences and the broader social and
historical context of a given time (Elder, 2003; Elder & George, 2016).
This approach assumes that outcomes observed in older age are the
result of a whole life course. For example, gendered employment trajectories
can result in the feminisation of poverty in later life due to
differential pension income (Aartsen et al., 2021; Duwury, Ni Leime,
Callan, Price, & Simpson, 2012). Additionally, it is recognised that the
life-course is characterised not only by the regular and progressive
establishment of patterns and continuities, but also by the phases in
which these continuities are interrupted, reoriented, or challenged.
These transitional events and trajectories have the potential to
change the position of an individual in social, cultural and political
terms (Elder & George, 2016). Turning points correspond to important
events, that can be expected or unexpected and that reorient trajectories
in a lasting manner (Grenier, 2012). The phases of transitions may
themselves be institutionalised, and thus normatively anticipated elements
of the life course that most people pass through - for example, the
transition from work to retirement (Diewald, 2016a; Kohli, 2007). They
can also be considered normative life events, such as for example, a
transition into widowhood in older age (McCallum, 1986). Some transitions
can be at least argued to be non-normative transitions that occur
in parallel to those that are institutionalised, like the onset of an illness
or relocation. Such transitional phases are characterised by the need to
redefine ones' roles and develop new ways of thinking and acting due to
interruptions to what previously had been more stable, continuous states
(Zittoun, 2009), such as those surrounding social relations.
In terms of gender and social relations more broadly, the limited
studies that exist on the role of gender in exclusion from social relations
suggest that over the life course women tend to be more disadvantaged
than men due to gender inequality experienced at the micro- and macrostructural
levels (Aartsen et al., 2021; Clarke, 2010; Lopata, 2006).
Studies that are concerned with gender and social isolation are inconsistent
as some indicate women are more isolated (Naito et al., 2021),
some show men as more isolated (Cudjoe et al., 2020) and others suggest
no difference (Kotwal et al., 2021). These mixed findings are replicated
when considering the gender impacts of transitions on social relations in
later life.
2
A. Urbaniak et al Journal of Aging Studies 67 (2023) 101188
Onset of ill-health
The onset of ill-health can have significant impacts on social relationships
for different genders, depending on factors such as cultural
expectations, type of illness, and other social identities. Women may
experience greater emotional distress and social exclusion due to the
cultural expectations that they should be caregivers and nurturers
(Thoits, 2011; Umberson, Crosnoe, & Reczek, 2010). Furthermore,
women often have more extensive social networks than men, which can
result in greater social disruption when health problems arise as functional
limitations may make socialising more difficult (Cornwell,
Schumm, Laumann, & Graber, 2009). Finally, the impact of ill-health on
social relationships can vary depending on the type of illness. Chronic
illnesses such as diabetes or heart disease can result in ongoing physical
limitations and a need for ongoing care, which can strain social relationships
for both genders. In contrast, acute illnesses such as cancer or
stroke can result in sudden disruptions to social relationships, including
changes in caregiving roles and emotional support (Martire & Helgeson,
2017). Older women have a greater likelihood of experiencing common
mental disorders like depression and anxiety than older men, although
the gender disparity is not as significant as it is in younger age groups
(Girgus, Yang, & Ferri, 2017). In contrast, older men are more vulnerable
to the mortality-related consequences of poor mental health, such
as suicide (Kiely, Brady, & Byles, 2019).
Bereavement
While grief and mourning are universal experiences, the ways in
which men and women cope with bereavement and adjust to life
without their significant others can vary based on a range of factors,
including cultural norms and personal beliefs about death and dying.
Older men might not openly address their difficulties during bereavement
as norms of socialisation encourage men to control their emotions
(Doka & Martin, 2001; Li & Lin, 2020). Studies have found that women
may experience more disruption in their social support networks after
the death of a spouse or partner, due in part to the fact that they are often
the primary caregivers in intimate relationships and may be more likely
to have friends and family members who are also experiencing loss (Carr
& Mooney, 2021; Umberson, 2003). Men, on the other hand, may be
more likely to rely on their spouse or partner for emotional support and
may struggle to find new sources of support after a loss (Revenson,
Schiaffino, Majerovitz, & Gibofsky, 1991). A large body of evidence on
spousal bereavement highlights also that women may be at greater risk
of depression, anxiety, and other mental health problems after the loss of
a spouse or partner (Carr, 2008). Whereas, men may be more likely to
experience physical health problems such as heart disease and stroke
after a loss of a spouse (Stroebe, Schut, & Stroebe, 2007). Bereavement
for men and women by definition means a contraction of a person's
social network, but in the case of women it additionally might translate
into diminished social opportunities due to changes in economic and
social status (DiGiacomo, Lewis, Phillips, Nolan, & Davidson, 2015;
Guiaux et al., 2007).
Retirement
The literature suggests that retirement can have both positive and
negative effects on social relationships, depending on factors such as
gender, marital status and cultural norms. As work tends to be the main
source of social relations for men, they can experience limited social
contact when they transition to retirement (Barnes & Parry, 2004).
Additionally, retirement is generally associated with a loss of social
identity and status for men, who often define themselves by their
occupation and work roles (Carr, 2019). Many researchers emphasise
how retirement can cause loss of work relationships and feelings of
loneliness and isolation for older women (Carp & Coyle, 1997; Price,
2000; Winston & Barnes, 2007). However, retirement can also lead to
increased time with family members, which can improve relationships
and foster intergenerational solidarity (Dykstra & Fokkema, 2011). As
one of the most institutionalised transitions in older age, retirement is
tightly linked to gendered societal norms related to providing care and
employment policies at all phases of the life course (Ni Leime, Street,
Vickerstaff, Krekula, & Loretto, 2017). Research also demonstrates that
retirement transitions reflect the interaction of temporal and long-term
factors associated with partnerships, families, health and gender roles
and that married women are more likely to give social reasons for
intending to carry on working, whereas men are more focused on the
financial dimension (Loretto & Vickerstaff, 2013). Retirement can lead
to increased conflict and tension in marriages, particularly if couples had
different expectations or experiences of retirement (Atchley, 2001; Szinovacz
& Davey, 2005). However, retirement can also provide opportunities
for couples to spend more time together and develop new shared
interests.
Relocation
In their classical research, Litwak and Longino (1987) classified three
categories of relocation in later life: migration for "amenity" purposes,
which aims to improve the quality of life; migration for health reasons or
disabilities, which involves moving closer to family members; and
migration into institutions at the end of life. The authors emphasise that
the distribution of these types of migration varies over the life course
and is closely related to other events that occur throughout one's life.
Relocation can have significant impacts on social relations for different
genders, as it can disrupt established social networks, create new opportunities
for social interaction, and shape the gendered experiences of
movement and settlement. Moving to a new location in older age may
also disrupt social networks developed in a previous location. These
networks are likely to be particularly significant for the well-being of
older adults who often spend more time in their immediate neighbourhood,
experience constraints on their ability to access geographically
diffuse social ties, and in the context of declining health, may be
particularly reliant on social support from these networks (Gardner,
2011; Klinenberg, 2001). Research has shown that women are more
likely to experience social isolation and loneliness after relocation,
especially if they are responsible for caring for children or older
relatives.
Methods and data
Design and approach
Findings presented in this paper are drawn from the qualitative
component of a larger European mixed-methods study on exclusion from
social relations (GENPATH - A life course perspective on the GENdered
PATHways of exclusion from social relations in later life, and its consequences
for health and wellbeing). We used data from 119 in-depth
interviews from four jurisdictions: Austria, Czechia, Ireland and Spain.
This research employed an approach that focused on capturing lived
experience insights related to relational change across the life course
(Antonucci, Ajrouch, & Birditt, 2014), the implications of these changes
for multifaceted forms of exclusion from social relations (Burholt et al.,
2020) and the role of gender in patterning these changes and implications
(Aartsen et al., 2021).
Interviews
Interviews were based on a semi-structured interview guide. The
interview guide was developed by the cross-national research team, and
included questions on daily social routines and opportunities, social
networks and relationships, relationship conflicts and losses, loneliness
and receiving/providing support, barriers to social participation/social
relationships, and anticipated future with respect to relations. A
3
A. Urbaniak et al
graphical representation of the participants' social convoy (Antonucci
et al., 2014), was also used to probe on participant's social networks and
relationships. In this exercise, participants were asked to map their relations
on a concentric circle diagram, with three circles representing
different levels of relational closeness. Participants listed all those
within their network and ordered them in terms of the subjective
closeness they felt with them. A short socio-demographic questionnaire,
which collected biodemographic information and included the 6-item
De Jong Gierveld loneliness scale (Gierveld & Tilburg, 2006), was also
administered at the end of the interview. While the interview guide was
developed in English, it was subsequently translated into local languages
and adjusted to local contexts using pilot interviews. Modified local
versions were shared and discussed again with the international team for
verification of the accuracy of translation.
With reference to Table 1, data collection was completed between
August 2020 and May 2021. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, interviews
were conducted both in person and remotely (by telephone or online).
For those conducted in person, the researcher followed all public health
measures implemented within the specific jurisdiction (such as face
shields, ventilation, social distancing, etc.). For those interviews conducted
remotely, the participants were provided with the social convoy
diagram by email or post prior to the interview. We are aware of the
differences between face-to-face and remote interviewing, however we
did have not encountered any substantial shifts in the structures of
meanings (in some countries, remote interviewing led to the longer interviews,
while in others, interviews were shorter in duration, such as in
Spain, see Table 1). A l l interviews were audio recorded, professionally
transcribed, and checked for quality by the research team.
Participants
The interview sample included men and women aged 65 and over
from urban and rural contexts. Additionally, in order to increase variability
in the sample, we also aimed to include people living with a
disability, those from the LGBTQ+ community and from different socioeconomic
and ethnic backgrounds. Participants were informed of the
goals of the study and how issues of confidentiality and anonymity
would be preserved, including the storage, analysis, and dissemination
of the data. The interviews were audio recorded, professionally transcribed,
and checked for quality by the research team. The sample
characteristics for participant across the four countries are presented in
Table 2.
Analysis process
For this paper, all 119 interviews were reviewed and the team
selected all those where participants had experienced a transition as
significantly impacting their social relations and recorded this for each
transition identified (see Appendix 1). The analysis drew on constructivist
grounded theory (Bryant & Charmaz, 2007; Charmaz, 2014) and
case study approaches (Yin, 2009), and involved three phases.
Table 1
Interview details.
Country Total No. Face- No. No. Timing of data
number of to-face/ Online/ Phone/ collection
interviews average
length
average
length
average
length
Austria 30
27/82
min
0
3/93
min
August
2020-November
2020
Czechia 29
18/164
min
0
11/175
min
November 2020 March
2021
Ireland 30 0 2/73 28/71
September 2020 April
2021
Spain 30
23/63
min
0
7/36
min
October 2020 May
2021
Journal of Aging Studies 67 (2023) 101188
First, the transcripts were analysed inductively in local languages by
one or more members of the local research team. Major themes and most
relevant codes identified in each country were shared and discussed
with the international team. Second, based on the initial coding, four
cases per country were selected representing two men and two women
who seemed to be most at risk of exclusion from social relations both
subjectively (having a strong loneliness narrative in the interview) and
reporting low number of relations in the social convoy model and high
level of loneliness in the loneliness scale. From these cases, the analytical
summaries, including key quotations, were written in English and
shared and discussed with the international team. A table of major codes
was developed and used for focused coding of all interviews by the local
teams. Third, the results from the focused coding were shared in English.
Through a systematic review and analysis of codes (in relation to original
data, initial codes, and identified themes), the focused coding process
resulted in a set of core categories and the writing process was
initiated. The interpretations were further developed in the team discussions
moderated by the leading author.
Ethics
Each country team followed local guidance on securing ethical
approval from their institutions' research ethics committees. This
included approval for any amendments covering COVID-19 related
adjustment to methods (e.g. telephone interviews).
Findings
Findings are presented on those transitions that were common across
all jurisdictions and most frequently referred to by participants as having
the most significant impact on their social relations. These transitions
were: onset of ill-health, bereavement, retirement, and relocation,
and were highlighted by male and female participants. The experience
of these four transitions often differed for the male and female participants
in the study. These experiences are described with a summary in
Appendix 1.
We present findings on each transition in a separately, starting with
an illustrative case from our data that captures the lived experience of
people in this study and provides more insight into individual stories.
We then present themes that emerged from the data in relation to
meanings and interpretations around transitions and their impacts,
highlighting gender and social contexts for each transition in more
detail. Presenting the findings in this way was designed to allow for an
in-depth exploration of transitional experiences followed by a description
of cross-cutting aspects of each transition and reflects the
constructivist theory analysis approach.
The onset of ill-health
The majority of participants experienced some form of ill-health or
disability at different stages of the life course. These transitions
impacted participants' ability to participate socially and to form new
relationships and contributed to alterations in their social positioning
and their own self-image to various extents. In overall terms, these
transitions affected both male and female participants in similar ways.
We start by presenting Maria's case to introduce the meanings assigned
to the onset of ill-health/disability, management of this transition and
the lived experience of exclusion from social relations in the life of an
older woman.
Maria's case: impact of ill-health and linked transitions
Maria is a 74-year-old divorcee born in Venezuela, who has been
living in Barcelona since 2012. She has two daughters: one lives in New
York and the other one lives with her in Barcelona. Maria has experienced
mobility limitations since she had her first daughter 40 years ago.
4
A Urbaniak et cd. Journal of Aging Studies 67 (2023) 101188
Table 2
Sample characteristics.
Country Total number of
participants
Gender (M/
W)
Average
age
Marital
status'1
Country of origin type (number) Number of participants with
disability
Austria
Czechia
30
29
12/18
12/18
75
74
11/1/1/2/8/
7
3/0/1/3/10/
12
Austria (24), former Czechoslovakia (2), former
Yugoslavia (1), Germany (3)
Czechia (27), Hungary (1), Russia (1)
5
16
Ireland 30 17/13 75
4/0/5/10/2/
9
Ireland (27), UK (1), USA (1), Malaysia (1) 13
Spain 30 11/19 79
0/0/1/5/9/
15
Spain (27), Argentina (2), Venezuela (1) 14
Married and living together with spouse/ Registered partnership/Married, living separated from spouse/ Never married/Divorced/ Widowed.
Those limitations intensified in her early 60s, when she fell and broke
her hip. Currently she uses a walking frame and cannot climb any stairs.
She describes the total nature of the transition into disability that was
triggered by her fall and describes an overwhelming, negative impact on
her life: "I fell, broke my hip and then everything got ruined".
Maria's story captures the ripple effects of transitions where one
transition can generate other major changes, in this case, relocation.
After her accident, Maria moved to her daughter (externalising genderrole-based
expectations linked to care) in Barcelona as she felt that she
could not rely on anyone in Venezuela. This story also captures the
macro structural context of the welfare regime that either provides
sufficient care support or not. In relocating to Barcelona, Maria's relationship
with her daughter and granddaughter was strengthened, but at
the same time she lost her social network in Venezuela. She reflects on
the profound impacts this relocation had on her social relations. She
highlights how transitions that imply relocation might increase the cost
of maintaining relations in social convoy and not all contacts might be
willing to accept this change:
I've always had a good personal relationship with all the people who
were around me, but everything has an ending. Because if you decide
to move, or your plans changed, some of them disappear even if you
want to keep your friendships.
Maria's current social relations in Barcelona do not fulfil her expectations.
Due to the combined effects of being care-dependent and having
a limited social network, she feels that she is dependent on her daughter
which has a significant impact on her wellbeing:" I use diapers [due to
urinary incontinence], it's very embarrassing... I would like to take out
my own rubbish, but I cannot, and someone has to do it for me".
Cross-cutting dimensions
Maria's case is focused on relocation and ill-health; hence, it is very
complex, allowing us to illustrate most of the themes we identified
across all cases of the onset of ill-health: mental and physical challenges
related to this transition; impacts of transition on perception and
experiencing social relations, treatment-related inconveniences, selfperception,
opportunities for social interactions and activities and
developed coping strategies. We present these themes below, supported
by quotes from different cultural contexts.
Many participants addressed mental and physical health challenges
as directly impacting exclusion from social relations. Laura, from Spain,
highlights the intersection of limited mobility with limitations in her
social network, which further inhibits her activities and socialising
opportunities:
I have problems to walk... I have this physical barrier. I need the help
of other people to get out from home. There are some days that I
would like to walk on the promenade, but I depend on other people.
If nobody can help me, then I must stay home. (74y, SPA).
The onset of ill-health impacts social relations in many ways: it
challenges existing relationships and limits socialising opportunities. In
narratives presented by participants, different types of health issues or
disability meant different ways of coping strategies that could further
increase risks of exclusion from social relations. In the case of some
conditions, unpredictability of an impairment might lead to withdrawal
from social relations and an avoidance of socialising. Some
participants refused to take part in social events as they were too afraid
that they might experience an unexpected worsening of their
condition.
Participants also highlighted the negative impacts of the medical
treatment they received on their social opportunities and intimate relationships.
Some participants described how because of medical treatment
they needed to change their activity patterns, which often limited
their cultural participation due to the risk involved in being exposed to a
large group of people, who might pose a contamination risk. Another
aspect that emerged in our data was the impact of medical treatment on
social relations and self-image. This is highlighted here by Adolf, from
Austria, who refuses to take his medication as he sees it as a threat to his
masculine identity and ability to sustain intimate relationships due to its
impact on his libido: "But I don't take that, the tablets. Because they have
suppressed the last bit of libido I have. And I want to live that out a bit
more". (Adolf, man, 70y, AT).
The onset of ill-health impacted the way participants felt they were
perceived by (significant) others, therefore affecting their self-image and
social positioning. Steve from Ireland, who became visually impaired at
a young age, talked about being rejected across many areas of society
over his life-course, such as being excluded from the blind community
and from participating in voluntary roles. Here he highlights that the
most devastating was the rejection he experienced from his family
members:
I would say one thing that's affected me, is family did not accept it
[his accident], and they still don't, and they're very prejudiced. I fled
from them, [...] the fact that you had to flee from your own flesh and
blood, I think that's extreme. (74y, IR).
On the other hand, many participants described the social support
they received from their family members and friends during the onset of
ill-health. Participants reflected on the different nature of their relationship
with formal caregivers who were not expected to offer close
emotional support and the role of companionship and emotional support
that was offered by their closest family members (typically referred to as
informal support). In participants' narratives, exclusion from social relations
and (physical and mental) ill-health were intertwined in a
complex manner. In some cases, disability, or a diagnosis of mental
illness, carried significant stigma, partly due to cultural beliefs and also
the so-called anti-social behaviours that can result from cognitive
impairment. Stigma not only affects self-esteem and causes personal
distress, but affects social relations and can delay diagnosis of certain
conditions, such as dementia.
For some participants, severe mobility issues limited opportunities
for social interactions and activities occurring outside their household,
thus contributing to social exclusion and isolation. For others the connections
between mental health and exclusion from social relations were
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A. Urbaniak et al Journal of Aging Studies 67 (2023) 101188
not so straightforward. Lisa describes how social exclusion and depression
were entangled in her life:
I was ill, and it was because of this, the illness of loneliness, I had a
very shy character... I found myself alone..., I ended up in bed, I
didn't get up at all, I didn't eat and in the end I don't know how, but I
got out of this. I am treated by psychiatrists, and I have medications.
One day I said, I have to do something and so I started signing up for
activities. (69y, SPA).
Participants described many coping strategies to deal with the onset
of ill-health. Some referred directly to social support and reflected on the
role of support groups for connecting them to people with similar conditions.
Such support groups provided social opportunities and a sense
of belonging to many of the participants. Others, who did not get
involved in support groups, highlighted the role of communication
technologies in mediating their social relations. Nina from Czech Republic
described how she continues to be in touch with significant others
when face-to-face encounters are not possible due to her ill-health: "[I'm
contacting people] By phone, very often and with many people. Either
they call or I call. Very often, like 2, 3 calls every day". (Nina, woman,
81y, CZ).
Narratives around onset of ill-health or disability highlighted that
this transition can in some instances be linked with other transitional
experiences, such as relocation. For example, after experiencing the
onset of ill-health, some participants migrated to receive better medical
care in their home-countries or to receive informal help from relatives
living abroad.
Bereavement
Death of a significant other was often perceived by participants in
this study as limiting their social network and decreasing available social
support. It often involved a change in family relationships (feeling
abandoned by relatives, experiencing conflicts with family members).
Pavlina's case, presented below, illustrates how bereavement can impact
on the quality and quantity of the social networks of some older men and
women.
Pavlina's case: bereavement impacts on social relations
Pavlina is 88 years, a widow living alone in a large city in Czechia.
Coming from a disadvantaged socio-economic background, her health
limitations do not allow her to leave the apartment. Due to pressure from
her husband (externalising gender-role-based expectations), Pavlina
gave up a professional career to stay with her children and take care of
the household. She experienced multiple bereavements. The death of her
son at a young age had long-term effects on her relationship with her
daughter. Since her husband passed away, she lives alone. Her family
relationships were conflicted and strained for a long time. The death of
her husband 23 years ago marks a significant transition in her narrative:
Yes, I felt that [loneliness] when my husband died. And those kids
stopped visiting me. Then I felt very lonely. I cried every evening.
And that took a year or two. Well, and then step by step, one gets
used to everything. Step by step.
Experiencing multiple bereavements combined with a mobility
impairment changed her social network by significantly limiting her
day-to-day contacts to formal caregivers. Pavlina mentions that without
formal caregivers she would be utterly alone and reflects that her
longevity contributed to experiencing numerous losses in her social
network:
We used to visit our friends, we had a few, but they've died. And I
used to contact some people here at the house, but they all passed
away already. [...] I had a lot of friends when I was young. [...] I've
outlived them all.
Pavlina mentions that being able to access formal caregiver-support
provided by the state is important for her wellbeing and coping with
ill-health. The influence of the macrostructural context of care was
another important dimension of transitional experiences for our
participants.
Cross-cutting dimensions
Pavlina's case captures some themes we identified across all cases of
the bereavement: exclusion from social relations; self- perception and
social positioning resulting from bereavement, opportunities for social
interactions and activities, and developed coping strategies. We present
those themes below, supported by quotes from different cultural
contexts.
Participants in this study highlighted the numerous and complex
changes in the structure of the social network experienced in the aftermath
of the loss of significant other(s). The experience of bereavement
and its consequences depend on individual as well as on cultural context.
In some cases, participants experienced multiple losses which led to
shrinking of their social life, limiting available social support and
translated into feelings of loneliness, sadness, and depression. Carmen
from Spain highlights how experiencing multiple losses meant losing
intimate relationships, social opportunities, social support and fundamental
changes in her wellbeing:
My husband left [died], then my daughter, now three months ago I
buried my son, three years ago his wife died, and three years after she
died, he dies, and now my life is no longer what it was. I'm not
excited about anything anymore (cries), they call me, let's go out,
and I'm not going to be locked up here, but I'm no longer excited.
(90y, SPA).
Participants described the loss of family members and peers
(friends and neighbours) as exacerbating their exclusion from social
relations. Being close to death leads to the loss of often long-term or
lifelong relationships that cannot be replaced, and this is highlighted
by Helena as she reflects on the losses she experienced in her community:
"Those were our friends. She's poor now too. She's got Alzheimer's.
Well, wonderful, wonderful people. I miss them". (Helena,
woman, 90y, CZ).
The most frequently described loss in our sample was the loss of a
spouse or life partner. It emerged in our data as being gendered at
several levels. First, it was experienced more often by women, who tend
to live longer than men. Secondly, it had at least some economic consequences
for widows. Thirdly, it impacted the social positioning of
widows and limited their opportunities for socialising.
Coping strategies developed in response to these losses were also
different for men and women. For some women in our sample, spousal
bereavement led to an active search for new social outlets and activities.
This was less common among the male participants, who instead focused
on developing increased contact with immediate family. For example,
Kurt from Austria highlights that after his wife passed away, he became
closer to his children: "Since my first wife died, the contact with me is, of
course, a bit closer, because I am the only relative (laughs) for them [his
children]". (Kurt, man, 84y, AT).
For some women in our sample, widowhood meant a liberation from
the burden of caregiving, or from an abusive relationship with a violent
partner. However, men in our sample did not reflect on the sense of
liberation in the context of bereavement. On the contrary, for some men,
losing their wife/partner was experienced as a total loss, as their wife/
partner was their main (and in some cases the only) close social relationship
they had. In many cases, their deceased partner/spouse
possessed the stronger social network and acted as a gatekeeper to the
broader social network for the couple. Therefore, in such cases the loss
of a wife/partner meant the loss of access to wider social contacts for the
bereaved man.
In some cases, bereavement was experienced as a transition which
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strongly impacted self-image and social positioning limiting the sort of
social opportunities and social roles that were now available to participants.
For example, Bill from Ireland highlighted how losing his son
also reduced his chances of becoming a grandfather, thus denying him
access to future social opportunities through intergenerational social
ties:
If my son was still alive, I'd obviously feel close to him, you know...
[I'm] close to my daughter. It's just a sad.. .that I've lost family.. .1
suppose, you'd like to grow old, and you have your daughter
around you or have grandchildren. But, i n m y situation, m y
daughter is not married, she says she hasn't found the right person
yet. (65y, IR).
Participants in this study view the possibility of finding a new life
partner after losing a spouse/partner as difficult, yet the reasons for
finding a new intimate relationship were gender-differentiated in our
sample. For women, the reasons range from the need to have a loved
one to confide in, to the practical reasons for having support with
mobility and more demanding physical tasks. The men in our sample
define the need for a new relationship by the need for sharing
(Kafkova, 2023). For them, the loss of a spouse meant the loss of a
loved one with whom they could share every day and unusual
experiences.
Retirement
The narrative around retirement as a transition in our sample was the
most institutionally based transition that participant's highlighted and
also the transition that reflected the most gendered structural factors.
We present below Stefan's case as an illustration of potential retirement
impacts on social relations of an older man.
Stefan's case: retirement impacts on social relations.
Stefan's case captures most of the themes we identified across all
cases of retirement: institutionalisation of retirement, altered professional
social network, self-perception and social positioning resulting
from retirement, leisure, and developed coping strategies. We present
those themes, supported by quotes from different cultural contexts after
presenting Stefan's case.
Stefan is 77 years old, divorced, lives in a large city in Austria with a
partner. He used to work as an engineer. Stefan contrasts his situation as
a retiree with the situation of his professionally active partner, highlighting
that retirement means him being more at home and a starting
point for a less active phase of life:
My better half went to work, then I sat at home.... So this is a change
from working life [...], of course, it's different in the pension[...]
Well, that's life too [...] at some point a new phase comes, it's now
called retirement and you have to orientate yourself.
At the same time, he normalises his experience referring to normative
aspects of retirement as a transition expected to happen in older life.
For Stefan, retiring was a turning point that led to attempts to re-connect
with friends not associated with professional life, as contacts he developed
in his professional life were not continued outside the professional
context and he wished to compensate for this loss. Stefan highlighted
that after retirement he proactively started to search for new social
outlets:
And I have actually had a lot of [professional] contacts and that has,
of course, shrunk a bit now [...] a lot changes when you retire. [...]
And it's been two years now and, uh, I'm still on the search for
contacts.
However, Stefan noted how linked lives might impact on abilities of
social connectedness, as one of the friends he wanted to reconnect with
was more occupied with family responsibilities and his friend's wife
did not support this reconnection: "In the past, his wife was always
against it [their meetings] and always blocked it. That's why we didn't
Journal of Aging Studies 67 (2023) 101188
see each other for a long time. You can't suddenly break into another
family".
Cross-cutting dimensions
Stefan's case captures most of the themes we identified across all
cases of retirement: institutionalisation of retirement, altered professional
social network; self-perception and social positioning resulting
from retirement, leisure, and developed coping strategies. We present
those themes, supported by quotes from different cultural contexts.
In our data, this focus on work related social positioning of an individual
as a retiree was more visible in the narratives of older men than
those of older women. Some participants, such as Pedro from Spain,
highlighted that retirement operates as a significant cultural marker that
impacts the social positioning of the retired individual:
The moment you are already in retirement then things are not as they
were, it seems that it is so, that is to say that life goes this way, when
one gets older, because that, it seems that they forget about you.
(83y, SPA).
Regardless of one's reasons for retirement (e.g., onset of ill-health,
onset of caregiving role) and the timing of retirement, the transition
from paid work inevitably meant changes in the professional social
networks of participants. For some, changes in the structure of their
social network and the limited frequency of contact with former work
colleagues contributed to a dissolution of work-related contacts. In the
long-term, this translated into a reduced social network and limited
social opportunities.
Limiting or withdrawing from professional activity during retirement
for our participants meant increased time that could be used for
leisure and widening social opportunities. Some participants, such as
Simon from Czechia, highlighted the fact that his working life limited his
social relations. He reflected on how macrostructural determinants
linked to socio-economic transformation in 1989 (when Czechia moved
to an open-economy market economy) pushed him into a career path
which required him to work night shifts, and thus limited his social
opportunities:
Then the nuclear program was cancelled, so all the people around
were laid off. So then I started a shipping business and I was working
only at night again. Then I got into other jobs. [...]. But then they
offer me go to [cityl], well. Like, well, there was better money and
stuff. So I bought a bigger car and I was driving at night again
(laughs). So still the nights. (66y, CZ).
Regardless of the pathways to retirement (e.g., entering from unemployment
or from full-time employment), working and not working
beyond retirement age both have significant impacts for experiencing
this transition in terms of developing coping mechanisms in response to
the transition and the subsequent effects for social relations. For those
who decided not to work past retirement age and were able to engage in
new meaningful activities, retirement did not mean exclusion from social
relations. Many of these participants experienced a widening of their
social network and increased social engagement, but it was predominately
the female participants who experienced this positive impact. For
example, Joan from Ireland talks about her early retirement as being life
changing, allowing her to develop new social opportunities and to
become involved in voluntary work:
A life-changing event was stopping work.. .that was a very good.. .1
chose the time, I never regretted it for a day, I just loved owning
my life again...without a doubt yeah [it increased social opportunities]
because I needed them more, you know work and home and
husband and friends took up everything...[retirement] enabled us
to go away more often, to travel more often oh no it was all good.
(76y, IE).
Anna's story is a good illustration of continuity after retirement. Her
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civic engagement was at a relatively high level during her working life,
and she reflected on how she was able to widen her social network
through increased civic engagement after retiring:
I'm committed (laughs) when I'm organised. And I always have been.
And in retirement I thought about: What do I do now? And then I put
it into a formula for myself: being available. So I have my pension
benefits, I have time, I am available and people come. This can also
be for children or for other generations with whom one perhaps has
less contact anyway. (67y, AT).
She highlighted that her pension benefits were high enough that she
did not need to search for additional work and could volunteer. The
impacts of macro-institutional factors were visible across narratives
from all jurisdictions. In general, where the welfare state provided
sufficient pension benefits, for example in Austria or Ireland, motivation
to be engaged in paid activities was lower. However, this varied
within countries based on individual work-life trajectories and
expectations.
A number of participants across countries committed themselves to
organising meetings with ex-work colleagues to maintain the relationships
developed in the workplace after retirement as a way to cope with
the limiting impacts of the transition. It was also common among participants
to invest more time and effort in relationships with extended
family and friends from the past, and this at least in the initial stages of
retiring contributed to positive changes in the quality of relationships in
their networks.
In the narratives, linkages between social relations and retirement
seem to emerge as particularly multidimensional compared to other
transitions. On the one hand, transitioning into retirement has an impact
on the social network. On the other hand, social relations available
during transitioning impact on the retirement trajectory and transitional
outcomes. Many participants highlighted alterations in terms of quality
and quantity of social relations, as in Stefan's case. Retirement turned
out to be a transition impacting social networks of both men and women,
however men more often highlighted the negative impact of retirement
on their general wellbeing.
Relocation
The relocation transition is present within the data across all countries
and while there were some variations in the driver of this transition,
marriage and work-related relocation featured prominently across all
national data sets, as did relocation linked to retirement, bereavement,
ill-health, and relational breakdown (albeit to a lesser extent). While
both male and female participants experienced relocation, the findings
point to some types of relocation being gendered and reinforced by societal
and structural constructions of gender experiences as in Peter's
case we present below.
Peter's case: work-related relocation impacts on social relations
Peter is 83 years old, married but living alone (his wife lives in a
nursing home) in an urban location in Ireland. He experienced multiple
work-related relocations as part of his work-life trajectory:
At first, we [he and his wife] moved to [town 1] ... And then I saw an
advertisement for jobs and I applied and I got one of those so we
moved to [city l]...and we lived there for about 12 years...Then I
saw a job in the paper again.. .and I applied to them and I got it and I
moved to [city 2].. .and I've been here ever since.
While Peter's work was a source of social connectivity for him, this
quote is illustrative of the way linked lives can be impacted, either
negatively or positively, by transitions. Here Peter recalls the differential
and negative impact these relocations had on his wife's social relations:
"She [his wife] lost her friends when we got married and she moved
away from [town]".
Journal of Aging Studies 67 (2023) 101188
Despite his many relocations, Peter maintained a degree of relational
continuity, however, he lost this continuity when he retired. He reflects
on the dynamic nature of his social relationships during his working life
and the negative impact of retirement:
I had good work colleagues, and I was friendly with them. ..., I lost
virtually all of those people when I retired, and the interesting thing
was that none of them lived near me...and I've lost touch with all
those.
Cross-cutting dimensions
Across all cases of relocation, we captured three themes: gendered
nature of relocation; feelings of displacement, and developed coping
strategies. Peter's case shows most thoroughly how relocation is
different for older men and women even if they relocate together (as in
the case of Peter and his wife).
The findings suggest a gendered pattern to the impact and drivers of
relocation, and to structural and societal influences. In our sample, more
women than men experienced relocation due to marriage or relocation
linked to their spouse's work-life trajectory, while more men experienced
work-related relocation. A number of women who relocated to
their husband's community upon marriage described becoming disconnected
from their social networks, often having to start over in terms of
their social relations. This is highlighted by Carmel from Ireland who
experienced multiple relocations linked to her husband's employment.
Unlike her previous relocations earlier in life when Carmel was able to
rely on her children and school-related social networks as a channel for
social connectivity, there were fewer opportunities to meet new people
and to form new social networks in later life.
That was difficult [making new friends]. It wasn't too bad when the
children were small because very often you made connections
through the parents of their friends.. .but I found the [last] move to
[large town] was probably the most difficult because the children...
were much older at that stage and that was difficult. (81y, IE).
Many of the participants experienced feelings of displacement when
they moved to a new environment. Helga from Austria moved from her
small rural community to an urban environment linked to her husband's
employment and became displaced from her wider social network
within that community. While Helga was able to maintain contact with
her family, she eventually lost connection to the wider community, and
highlighted the immediate impact of relocation and feeling lonely in a
crowded city:
I'm very attached to [home village] ... [I felt] lonely. Of course, the
first years in [large city they moved into] were terrible for me....
[back in home village] it was an extended family more or less... in
[large city they moved into] I felt like I was alone, I was terribly
homesick. (84y, AT).
Similarly, Augustyn, who returned to Czechia in later life, experienced
a significant impact on his social relations, suffering emotional
and social loneliness. He had originally moved to Spain earlier in his life
for work with his two sons, however, after the death of one of his sons,
he was too grief-stricken to remain and returned to his home village in
Czechia. Now, living alone, he is unable to reconnect with people in his
native village, and described his sense of loneliness and isolation, and
the poor-quality relationship with his other son, all of which have been
exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic:
I feel alone and I am alone because I have nobody. I'm alone here. I
live alone. I have a second son in Spain who has lived there for a long
time... now we can't have any contact, even if we wanted to, with the
pandemic. So, we text each other on WhatsApp sometimes. Well,
that's our contact. Because I'm alone, this misfortune is really
crushing me. (79y, CZ).
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A. Urbaniak et al
Coping strategies to maintain social networks after relocation
included the use of new technologies to stay connected. For some, like
Augustyn, this altered form of social contact is experienced as inadequate,
while for others, like Lucas, who moved from Argentina to Spain,
the quality of relationships has not been impacted and non-personal
interactions fulfil his social needs:
Change has not changed anything, I feel like we are still the same, at
a distance, but still, with the same role, with the same trust between
them and me because we tell each other almost everything, what
happens in our lives, what we do, what we enjoy, in that sense I have
few friends I am fine (65y, SPA).
Discussion
The main aim of this article was to explore the lived experiences of
common life-course transitions that influenced exclusion from social
relations for older men and women across four European country contexts.
In doing so, we wanted to illuminate how gender might play a role
in shaping those experiences. The study confirms the need for a gendersensitive
understanding of the contextual determinants of different
transitions, including social norms transferred through societal and
institutional processes (Diewald, 2016b; Lopata, 2006).
While the focus of our analysis was exclusion from social relations,
we also found that social relations could improve for some individuals in
later life as a result of some of the transitions, depending on prior life
circumstances (Cornwell, Laumann, & Schumm, 2008). For example, a
number of participants expanded their social connections in the community
after bereavement or retirement, a pattern which has been
established previously (Kohli, Hank, & Kunemund, 2009). However, this
was mediated by the availability of community resources. Some participants
became more socially connected by joining and/or volunteering
for organisations (e.g., in Austria and Ireland), whereas others did
not have that opportunity as such organisations were not available in
their immediate environments.
Interview narratives highlighted that diverse experiences of transitional
trajectories for older men and women coexist within a given national
context at any given time, and are perceived by individuals as
having significant impacts on their social relations. The relative
importance of these transitions is sensitive to macro-level influences as
well as individual-level characteristics. As previous research has indicated,
macro-institutional factors, such as the generosity and replacement
ratio of pension schemes (Hofacker, 2015; Oesch, 2008), childcare
and older adult-care policies and provisions (Burch, Dugan, &
Barnes-Farrell, 2019), life-long training policies (Wainwright et al.,
2019) and the adoption and effective implementation of anti-age
discrimination measures (Ojala, Calasanti, King, & Pietila, 2016)
impact on life-course transitions, such as retirement, care-giving and
relocation (primarily work and care-related).
Considering micro-level factors, we found that all identified transitions
(bereavement, onset of ill- health, retirement and relocation) were
experienced by participants as influencing and (to varying degrees)
constraining their connection to adequate levels of intimate relationships,
social networks, social support and/or social opportunities. Participants'
narratives highlighted that the mechanisms of exclusion from
social relations that unfold from considered transitions are connected to
(1) the transition type (as in the case of bereavement when the social
network is diminished by definition), (2) the meaning assigned to the
transitions, (3) coping strategies and (4) dynamic impacts of the
transition.
The nature of all life-course transitions implies a change between
two statuses (Van Gennep, 1960) and in the case of some life-course
transitions, changes in social relations are explicit. In our sample
such transitions were bereavement and relocation. In the case of
bereavement, the loss of a specific social relationship with the deceased
person is definite, while in terms of relocation there is a potential to
Journal of Aging Studies 67 (2023) 101188
continue social relations with the support of new technologies as
highlighted by Lucas from Spain. Similar findings highlighting decrease
of social network size when a person moves to a different area point
out the fact that some of the existing relationships can no longer be
maintained as before, since visits and shared activities are no longer
easily achieved (Jerusalem, Hahn, & Schwarzer, 1996; South & Haynie,
2004). Narratives collected in this study suggest that for our participants
both of these transitions are gendered. For example, women
in this sample experienced bereavement more often, while men tended
to relocate more often due to work-life events and women due to
marriage. For these women, marriage, combined with the gendered
expectation to stay at home and be the primary caregiver for their
children, often displaced them from their previous social networks, and
hindered their social opportunities within their new community, as
highlighted by the case of Peter's wife. The onset of ill-health impacted
on the social relations of study participants mainly in terms of limiting
their social opportunities. This reflects the findings of Haas, Schaefer,
and Kornienko (2010) that adolescents in poor health form smaller
networks and occupy less central positions than their healthy peers
within these networks. While there was no gender-based differences in
terms of types of health issues in our sample, framing of the experiences
around ill-health and disability seemed to be different for the
male and female participants. The findings confirm those of other
studies of gender and ageing, in showing that older women are more
concerned with the maintenance of supportive social networks and to
express their emotional reactions to the experience of illness (Seale &
Charteris-Black, 2008).
Our data suggest that meanings assigned to the transitions by the
participants and their social environment are culturally mediated and
therefore gendered as well (Coltrane, 2017). In the case of retirement,
Stefan's story illustrates a change in the social positioning of retirees that
might lead to exclusion from social relations for older men. An outcome
of no longer being part of a couple was a change in self-image and the
social positioning of widows in this study, who experienced contraction
of social networks. In certain cultural contexts older single women might
experience social stigmatisation (Reilly, Hafford-Letchfield, & Lambert,
2020). Our data suggest that older single women might also limit their
cultural participation due to the sense of danger resulting from attending
such events alone, particularly at night.
Meanings assigned to the transition by individuals and others in a
given cultural context impact the developed coping strategies that
might further impede their social networks by auto-marginalisation
processes. Maria's case illustrates that a coping mechanism developed
in response to disability onset involved gender-based care expectations
and led to another transition—relocation to her daughter in order to
receive informal care and support. This case illustrates how transitions
are linked in a person's life (disability onset leading to relocation) and
how they are connected through linked lives (here Maria's ill-health led
to transition in her daughter's life). Across all narratives, we captured
the intersection of linked lives and gendered care roles, as participants
more often received informal care from their wives, daughters, and
nieces. It is in this way that transitions in the lives of our participants
impacted the life-courses of their informal caregivers, highlighting the
culturally informed expectations around care roles and norms in
providing care. Similar findings have been documented in the international
literature. For example, Yee and Schulz (2000) showed that
women predominate as caregivers; are more likely to engage in personal
care than men; perform a wider range of tasks and spend more
time in providing care than men; and are often the preferred caregivers
by receivers.
Further, participants' narratives highlighted the dynamic aspects of
exclusionary impacts of transitions they experienced. Whereas some
transitions are more normative in the context of later life (e.g., retirement),
others might occur at earlier life-stages and can still impact
exclusion from social relations in older age. Exclusion from social relations
experienced in transition trajectories is volatile as at different
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stages individuals might feel less or more included. Some participants
received increased levels of social support at the beginning of their
bereavement trajectory but noted that this diminished with time.
Further still, impacts of given transitions differ in the short-term
compared to the long-term perspective.
Some participants, who in the aftermath of a transition or during
their transition trajectory received support from NGOs and volunteers,
included these contacts in their networks. However, they differentiated
the social contacts with close significant others and with formal caregivers/volunteers
highlighting the sense of intimacy and emotional
closeness assigned or at least expected from the first group.
These findings draw attention to life transitions as potentially a key
source of risk for exclusion from social relations in later life, helping to
direct the timing and the nature of interventions (e.g. peer support
groups during bereavement or retirement transitions). In promoting
active social lives for older men and women and counteracting longerterm
pathways of social isolation and loneliness, policy must attend to
these transitions and the gendered elements of their construction and
related subjective experience.
Applying a cross-country lens in our analysis allowed us to observe
that general gendered patterns were evident in the narratives around
transitions in older age. Furthermore, we discovered distinctions between
genders in cross-country perspectives, which can be explained by
the broader socio-historical context. For example, Franco's dictatorship
in Spain hindered women's status and rights, while socialism in the
Czech Republic encouraged women to enter the labour force, disrupting
the traditional breadwinner/homemaker model. Nonetheless, across all
jurisdictions, there seems to be a commonality regarding the influence of
these transitions. This is not surprising, as these transitions are common
life-course events and predominantly age-related (Carr, 2008; DupuisBlanchard
et al., 2009; Hilberink et al., 2017), with retirement being the
main age-based institutional transition in contemporary societies
(Axelrad & Mcnamara, 2018). Our analysis highlights that gendered
experiences of transitions are shaped in a specific welfare context.
European-wide as well as national policy should therefore consider the
role of gender in targeting supports for those experiencing those transitions
in older age.
Strengths and limitations
To our knowledge, this is one of a small number of papers to explore
the intersection of transitions and gender in exclusion from social relations
in older age from the perspective of older people themselves. By
including a culturally diverse set of participants from different welfare
contexts, this article has captured empirically how impacts of transition
on social relations in older age are gender-mediated and constantly
negotiated phenomena. In terms of limitations, the complexities of
conducting cross-cultural investigations and presenting it in a single
paper means not all nuances within the data could be described and
discussed. The small number of people with trans and gender nonconforming
(TGNC) identities willing to participate in the study meant
we could not fully capture the diversity of experiences of older adults
from that community (Willis, Raithby, Dobbs, Evans, & Bishop, 2021).
Another limitation is the fact that, due to the nature of the study design,
we were unable to gather in-depth insights on transitions that were
heavily entwined with other transitions (e.g., participants focussed on
impacts of bereavement following onset of caregiving not providing
many details on the latter one). This highlights the need for longitudinal
studies and advanced research techniques to explore further correlated
transitions (i.e., transitions that are linked to each other in one's individual
life-course), such as relocation after retirement or transitions that
are linked to the lives of others (e.g., onset of caregiving role). Collected
insights from lived experiences of exclusion from social relation resulting
from transition might be useful for policymakers (Urbaniak & Walsh,
2021) and for practice intervention designs in supporting older adults
experiencing those transitions.
Conclusions
This paper reflects a diverse group of Austrian, Czech, Irish and
Spanish older adults' views on how their life-course transitions shaped
their social relations. We focused on transitions that emerged as common
across those jurisdictions for older people: onset of ill-health,
bereavement, retirement and relocation. We found that experiences of
these transitions are gendered, resulting in diverse sets of experiences of
exclusion from social relations in the lives of older men and women, and
in how these exclusions can constrain social and support networks, social
opportunities and intimate relationships.
In conclusion, the main contribution of the current study is twofold.
First, it corroborates prior research underscoring that life-course transitions
are experienced differently by older men and women. Second, it
highlights that developing an enhanced understanding of exclusion from
social relations in older age can be usefully advanced through a gendersensitive
life-course perspective. This study emphasises the importance
of adopting a gendered focus to explore transitional trajectories, both
cross-nationally and within countries.
Funding
This paper is result of a GENPATH Project. GENPATH is part of the
GENDER-NET Plus ERANET COFUND project, which has received
funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation
program under grant agreement No. 741874. The national teams
have been supported by the following grants: Austria (FWF 14210/
GNP187), Czechia (TACR ZETA TJ03000002), Ireland (GNP-187), Israel
(Ministry of Science, Technology and Space 3-15667), Norway (NFR
299859), Spain (PCI2019-103627), and Sweden (Vetenskapsradet
2018-00929).
Declaration of Competing Interest
The author(s) declare none.
Data availability
Data will be made available on request.
Acknowledgement
GENPATH is part of the GENDER-NET Plus ERANET COFUND
project, which has received funding from the European Union's Horizon
2020 Research and Innovation program under grant agreement No.
741874. The national teams have been supported by the following
grants: Austria (FWF I4210/GNP187), Czechia (TACR ZETA
TJ03000002), Ireland (GNP-187), Israel (Ministry of Science, Technology
and Space 3-15667), Norway (NFR 299859), Spain
(PCI2019-103627), and Sweden (Vetenskapsradet 2018-00929).
10
A Urbaniak et al. Journal of Aging Studies 67 (2023) 101188
Appendix
Appendix 1
Gender differences in transitional experiences.
Number of cases where participants reflected on
given transition as significantly impacting their
social relations
Exclusionary impacts on social relations Gender differences
Onset of ill-
health
Bereavement
Relocation
• Disconnection from adequate levels of intimate
relationship
• Constrained social opportunities due to health
condition and/or received treatment
• Social network extended by formal caregivers
and medical professionals
• Higher levels of instrumental assistance
• Disconnection from adequate levels of intimate
relationship
• Changes in frequency of contacts with friends and
relatives
• Negative changes in the density, heterogeneity,
and multiplexity of ties within participants social
networks.
• Negative changes in the density, heterogeneity,
and multiplexity of ties in the social network
• Disconnection from adequate levels of intimate
relationship
• Negative changes in the density, heterogeneity,
and multiplexity of ties in the social network
• Those who received care during this transition
most often received it from women
• Women more frequently reflected on emotional
disconnection from adequate levels of social
relationships
• Women more often faced limited social
opportunities for various reasons (stigma, material
conditions).
• Men more often received instrumental support.
• Women more often received instrumental and
emotional support
• Men had smaller friendship networks and less
frequent contacts
• Women more often resumed social contact and
participation
• Men less often established new contacts.
• Women more often engaged with new groups and
established new contacts, more often engaged in
volunteering
No gender differences observed in the sample
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