Social wellbeing is important to health, but maintaining social relations often becomes difficult in later life due to retirement, chronic disease, and the death of spouses and friends. Social media platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter, present accessible and low-cost communication technologies that have been demonstrated to enhance feelings of social connection and reduce loneliness in younger age groups. This exploratory study uses a four-week social media training workshop as an intervention in a randomised controlled study to examine whether similar social benefits might be realised for those at older ages, aged 65+ years. Social wellbeing measures of social capital, loneliness, social connectedness and social provisions were examined, revealing only small differences in social integration. As these findings seemingly contradict studies conducted with younger persons, the contexts of social media use in older adulthood are discussed, along with proposals for future research directions.

While research on the health and wellbeing of older lesbian, gay and bisexual adults is gradually expanding, research on older trans and gender non-conforming (TGNC) adults lags behind. Current scholarship about this group raises important questions about the intersection of ageing and gender identity for enhancing care and support for older TGNC adults and the lack of preparedness of health and social professionals for meeting these needs. In this paper, we examine the accounts of 22 TGNC individuals (50–74 years) on the topic of ageing and unpack their concerns for and expectations of later life. We present qualitative findings from a study of gender identity, ageing and care, based in Wales, United Kingdom. Data were generated from two-part interviews with each participant. Four key themes are identified: (a) facilitative factors for transitioning in mid- to later life; (b) growing older as a new lease of life; (c) growing older: regrets, delays and uncertainties; and (d) ambivalent expectations of social care services. We argue that growing older as TGNC can be experienced across a multitude of standpoints, ranging from a new lease of life to a time of regret and uncertainty. We critically discuss emergent notions of trans time, precarity and uncertainty running across participants’ accounts, and the implications for enhancing recognition of gender non-conformity and gender identity in social gerontology.

The South Korean National Pension scheme was instituted in 1988 and now covers all private-sector employees and the self-employed. Since the financial crisis of 1997, however, it has become controversial and is under considerable pressure, not least because of the perceived financial implications of the country's rapidly ageing population. Predictions of financial shortfalls or ‘unsustainability’ have prompted calls for severe ‘downsizing’ of the scheme. The debate on the reform of the scheme has been dominated by the need to respond to demographic change in ways that assist the national economy, invariably by reducing social expenditure. The debate, however, has given little attention to the social or welfare functions of the pension scheme, though the material insecurity of older people has been exacerbated by major changes in the labour market and the family. This paper details recent socio-demographic changes in Korea and discusses their implications for old-age security and pension reform. It argues that public-pension schemes should be developed to strengthen social protection against the insecurities of old-age, that intra-generational redistribution should be at the core of the reformed arrangements, and that the introduction of a comprehensive non-contributory pension scheme should be seriously considered.

Analyses are presented of data from the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys (OPCS) Longitudinal Study; a record linkage study in which one per cent of the 1971 Census population has been followed up using routinely collected demographic data. The data set includes the 1981 Census records of sample members. The results show that between 1970–1 and 1980–1 there was a fall in migration in the retirement age groups. In both periods there were differentials in rates of migration, particularly between counties, according to variables such as tenure, economic position and Social Class. Tenure, marital status and economic position were together good predictors of male retirement migration 1970–1 but not of 1980–1 migration. The drop in migration rates between the two periods was greatest among the younger retired and owner occupiers.

The benefits of a strong proximal social network for people as they advance in age are well documented, but the continuation or development of social networks may be challenged when people relocate to a new home on retirement. This paper explores the personal network development of older residents who have moved to a new suburban (but not age-specific) residential development in a general urban setting. Drawing on a case study of a new outer-suburban ‘master planned estate’ in Brisbane, Queensland, the findings from interviews with 51 older residents and participant observations of a community group are presented. The study suggests that a traditional ideal of unreflexive community of place was an unreliable source of durable social bonds in contemporary fragmented and mobile social conditions, where the proximity of family members, durability of tenure and strong neighbourly ties are not inevitable. One successful resolution was found in a group of older residents who through exercising agency had joined a group the sole focus of which was social companionship. The theoretical bases of this type of group are discussed and its relevance is examined for retirees who have chosen to live in a residential environment for lifestyle and amenity reasons, away from their lifelong social networks.

The development of health services in England is currently shaped by three key factors: the active involvement of front-line health professionals (particularly family doctors – general practitioners) in decisions about resource allocation and service development priorities; the promotion of ‘partnerships’ between health and other organisations in order to deliver ‘joined-up’ services; and the close performance management of organisations and professionals to ensure that they meet externally prescribed objectives and targets. This paper considers the implications and impact of these factors on the development of services for older people. It discusses whether, under these circumstances, health service developments are likely to address some of the most pressing needs of older people.

This paper questions assumptions about reminiscence and looks at definitions of it. Functions of different types of reminiscence are examined and distinctions are drawn between these and autobiographical memories. Methodologies of eliciting reminiscences are critically considered. Finally, types and amounts of reminiscence are related to life style and age group.

This paper explores the intersections of age and masculinities in small information technology (IT) firms in Canada. The IT workforce, although demographically young, does not entirely comprise younger workers but is dominated by men and is ageing. Despite the infamous ‘nerd’ stereotype of IT workers and its associations with immature age and masculinity, perceptions of age and ageing in the industry have not been considered in the context of masculinities. To what extent are conceptualisations of IT work shaped by notions of age and masculinities? How do perceptions of age and masculinities correspond to occupational trajectories and responsibilities in IT work settings? To address these questions, this paper reports an analysis of qualitative semi-structured interviews with 76 employees of small IT firms in Canada. The findings indicate that the dominant frameworks for describing the nature of IT work are metaphors and analogies with sports, the military, entrepreneurial drive and craftsmanship. This paper focuses on the allusions to sport, war and ‘being driven’, and argues that the discursive ties to these masculine arenas normalise, or make ‘natural’, the affiliation of youthfulness and technical ability. The corresponding intersections between age and masculinity suggest that older workers are marginalised in small IT firms.

Evidence suggests that people with strong social support have lower mortality and morbidity and better self-rated health in later life, but few studies have used longitudinal data to examine the factors that inhibit or enhance social support. This study used both quantitative data and qualitative texts to explore older women's social networks. The mixed-methods design drew participants from the 1921–26 cohort of the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health (ALSWH). Regression modelling for repeated measures was used to analyse the longitudinal data. The qualitative data was content analysed by the themes identified from the quantitative analyses. The quantitative analyses revealed that larger social networks associated with better mental health, widowhood, illness or death of a family member, and no mobility problems. Women who were not Australian-born, had sight problems or who had moved house were more likely to have smaller social networks. The qualitative data provided insight into the lived experiences of this group of women. The use of a mixed methodology enabled the longitudinal quantitative results to be enriched by the women's own words. The findings highlight the importance to older women of being able to access their social network members to gain the psychological and emotional benefits.

In virtually all Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries the number of older people who have experienced divorce at some point in their lives will increase in coming decades. While there is an extensive literature that analyses the effects of divorce on wellbeing, there is relatively little research on the long-run effects of divorce in later life. This paper uses Australian data to estimate the long-run impacts of divorce on the wellbeing of older Australians. Dimensions of wellbeing examined are social interaction and connectedness, perceived social support, life satisfaction, and physical and mental health. The paper shows that divorce has a long-lasting, negative impact on wellbeing that persists into later life for both men and women. However, the negative effects of divorce on wellbeing are largely confined to those who do not re-partner. An important difference between men and women is that for women who are divorced and remain single, the negative effects of divorce are found for general health, vitality and mental health. Furthermore, these effects are reasonably large. For older men, there appear to be no long-term effects of divorce on physical or mental health. While there appears to be some effect of divorce on perceived social support for both older men and women, the effects of divorce on social support are less pervasive in later life than the effects of divorce on satisfaction with life and, for women, health.

This study investigates the changes in social network types among older adults in South Korea, and it examines whether, and to what extent, these changes influence their health and psychological wellbeing. Data were obtained from the Korean Longitudinal Study of Ageing. The sample was restricted to respondents over 65 years of age who participated in both the 2006 and 2008 surveys (N = 3,501). The social network types for both years were derived by Latent Class Analysis. Changes in network types over time were then identified. A series of multivariate regression analyses were conducted to examine the effects of social network changes on self-rated health, depressive symptoms and life satisfaction. Restricted, Family, Friend and Diverse network types were derived in each wave of the study. Although the direction of social network changes was not always towards the Restricted type, the Restricted network was the most prevalent and stable type among older Koreans. Older adults who remained in or transitioned to restricted types of social networks were more likely to have poor self-rated health, higher levels of depressive symptoms and lower levels of life satisfaction. This study adds to the limited body of literature on longitudinal network typology, and it expands the knowledge of social network types among older adults in diverse social and cultural contexts.

Social needs are important basic human needs. When social needs are not fulfilled, it can lead to mental and physical health problems. In an ageing society, meeting the social needs of older adults is important to sustain their wellbeing and quality of life. Social technology is used by younger people attempting to fulfil social needs. The aim of this study is to understand the social needs of older people and the role of social technology in fulfilling these needs. Using this information we will uncover opportunities for (technological) interventions. We conducted a qualitative explorative field study by interviewing 19 community-dwelling older adults. The participants were selected by professional care-givers with the help of a list of criteria for people at risk of social isolation or loneliness. Semi-structured interviews were held, using a topic list covering the following topics: social networks, social support, connectedness, neighbourhood, activities and hobbies, as well as use of and experiences with social technology. After thematic analysis, inductive codes were attached to quotations relevant to the research question. The results were described in four sections: (a) social needs and relationships; (b) the influence of life history and personality; (c) possibilities and barriers to meet social needs; and (d) use of and attitude towards social technology. The results indicate that the group of participants is heterogeneous and that their social needs and the way they try to meet these are diverse. The Social Production Functions Theory of Successful Aging (SPF-SA) was found to be a useful basis for interpreting and presenting the data. Social needs such as connectedness, autonomy, affection, behavioural confirmation and status are important for the wellbeing of older people. Although the need for affection is most easy to fulfil for older people, it looks like satisfaction of the need for behavioural confirmation and status are in some cases preferred, especially by the male participants. Resources such as relationships, activities, personal circumstances and social technology can help meet social needs. Where there is a lack of (physical) resources such as health problems, reduced mobility, death of network members, fear of rejection and gossip, and poor financial circumstances, meeting social needs can be more difficult for some older people. Social technology now plays a modest role in the lives of older people and in fulfilling their social needs. Because of its potential and its role in the lives of younger people, social technology can be seen as a promising resource in the satisfaction of social needs. However, since it is yet unknown how and to what extent the use of social network technologies, such as Facebook, can be beneficial for older people, more research in this area is needed. Based on our findings, we conclude that the world of older individuals is getting smaller. The loss of resources, e.g. the loss of one's health and mobility, may make it more difficult for an older person to connect with the world outside, which may result in a smaller social network. We therefore suggest that interventions to support older adults to meet their social needs may focus on two aspects: supporting and improving the world close by and bringing the world outside a little bit closer.

Research points to a higher risk for social isolation and loneliness among new immigrant and refugee older adults. Our article draws from a research project that explored the everyday stories of ageing among 19 diverse immigrant older adults in Canada. To capture their experiences of loneliness and social isolation, we use four illustrative cases derived from a structural approach to life-story narrative. To these we apply the intersectional lifecourse analytical lens to examine how life events, timing and structural forces shape our participants’ experiences of social isolation and loneliness. We further explore the global and linked lives of our participants as well as the categories of difference that influence their experiences along the continua of loneliness to belonging, isolation to connection. Finally, we discuss how an understanding of sources of domination and expressions of agency and resistance to these forces might lead us to solutions.

As policy makers in the United Kingdom and many other countries grapple with financing the needs of an ageing population, financial planning for social care in later life is high on political agendas. We draw on qualitative research with older couples in the United Kingdom about their intimate money practices to analyse the day-to-day meanings attributed to money, saving and consumption in the context of financial planning for later life and death. We find that expenditure on funerals and home adaptations is discussed, negotiated and planned, as is ‘downsizing’ to release capital from the home for financing day-to-day expenses and leisure expenses. These outcomes are within easy contemplation and indeed money practice of older couples. In contrast, end-of-life planning for domiciliary or residential care was virtually non-existent across all socio-economic groups, and couples employed a range of techniques to avoid making these discussions ‘real’. Costs (while well known) are seen as astronomical, details are scarce, intensive domiciliary care is never discussed, and death is seen as preferable to residential care. We theorise antipathy to care planning as a product of social and psychological construction of the ‘fourth age’ as a period of abjection, and therefore ‘wasted’ expenditure. Exhortations by policy makers for individuals to consider care costs will be ineffective without recognition of the cultural transformation of later life.

This paper examines the distribution of personal resources - financial, social, health and psychological - between age cohorts, sex groups and social classes in a random sample of community elderly. As expected, the young elderly, males and those from middle-class backgrounds have a disproportionate share of three out of four of these resources, but for social support the balance of advantage is reversed. When age, sex and class are combined to yield eight subgroups, younger working-class males consistently rank high on all resources and older working-class females consistently rank low. Older middle-class females rank low on all resources other than on close friends.

While the majority of households in England have become homeowners at the turn of the 21st century, some older people still struggle on low incomes in the less privileged sector of private renting. This article first explores the intertwining of the history of housing policy and provision with the lifecourse histories of individuals, seeking to describe the reasons why some older people are in the private rented sector. It then presents research findings that revealed how some older private tenants experienced different types and degrees of harassment and abuse by their landlords, from verbal and financial abuse to disrepair of property and illegal evictions. Both strands are brought together in looking beyond individual responsibility or culpability to the structural and lifecourse causes of the problems. People's housing choices and destinations are often shaped by a combination of their lifecourse circumstances and external (both economic and institutional) barriers. Where abuse is concerned, a two-tier tenancy system has made ‘regulated tenants’ vulnerable to their landlords; the legal remedies are endemically inappropriate; the housing benefit system is a major source of tension between landlords and tenants; and the modernised private rented sector has allowed no place for those who want secure long-term homes. In summary, this article examines how the law, housing policy and the housing market combine to produce particular problems for older private tenants.

This study examines both the motives for and the benefits of attending a university programme for older people (UPOP) in Spain, and how they vary with the type of UPOP. Two UPOP models were assessed: The ‘Older People's Classes’ of the University of Barcelona, which is organised as a lecture course, and the ‘University of Experience’ at the University of Valencia, which is a three- or four-year variant of regular university degrees. A sample of 321 older students (mean age 67.5 years) was gathered from the two UPOPs, 161 participants from the former and 157 from the latter. The findings suggest that expressive motives such as acquiring knowledge, expanding the mind or learning for the joy of learning were the most important reasons for joining a UPOP, and that among the perceived benefits from taking classes at university featured ‘gaining more friends’, ‘enhanced self or life-satisfaction’ and ‘joy in life’. Perceived benefits were particularly high among the less educated and the older students. While students participating in the Older People's Classes were older and included relatively more women, differences between the two models in motives and benefits did not exist or were slight. These results are discussed in the context of new strategies to improve university courses aimed at older students.

‘Ageing of the population is … one of the most important socioeconomic challenges … for the 21st Century’ Andrej Wojrczak, Director, WHO Centre Health Development, Japan.

This statement (WHO 1998: 5), reflects the growing awareness among politicians, policy makers and the general public of issues which have been recognised by gerontologists for the past 30 years or so. In both developed and less developed countries, demographic transition and the shift in the age structure of the population is now being publicly recognised as having fundamental implications for everyone in society. As British gerontology enters a new century, the time appears ripe to reflect on past achievements and highlight some future questions. In the following discussion I consider ageing and later life, discussing both societal and individual ageing, and the experiences, needs and contributions of those in later life. The paper focuses on social gerontology, defined as social, behavioural, historical, demographic and economic aspects of the study of ageing and later life, including the interface of these with health and health services. It thus touches upon medical and biological aspects only when they are of appropriate relevance.

Since 1962 there has been a marked increase in the number of elderly people in Britain living on their own. The present paper presents a detailed examination of the composition of households containing elderly persons in pre-industrial England, in 1962 and in 1980 in conjunction with an overview of the situation in a number of other European countries and in the United States. On the basis of this evidence it is argued that it is impossible to sustain the view of a linear progression from pre-industrial times when the elderly lived with their children to modern times when they live on their own. The final section takes up the question of the variation in the residence patterns of pensioners in England and Wales in 1981 following from the region of residence and the type of property occupied by the household. The highest proportion of pensioners living on their own were found in the eastern half of the country, excluding London and the adjacent metropolitan area, but including Manchester. Pensioners who were owner-occupiers were more likely than council tenants to be living with 2 or more non-pensioners. On the other hand, only in the case of the private tenant did the nature of the tenure remove all trace of the regional variation and the inference was drawn that social class, occupation and local tradition were influencing the residence patterns independently of the effect of tenure.

Extra-care housing has been an important and growing element of housing and care for older people in the United Kingdom since the 1990s. Previous studies have examined specific features and programmes within extra-care locations, but few have studied how residents negotiate social life and identity. Those that have, have noted that while extra care brings many health-related and social benefits, extra-care communities can also be difficult affective terrain. Given that many residents are now ‘ageing in place’ in extra care, it is timely to revisit these questions of identity and affect. Here we draw on the qualitative element of a three-year, mixed-method study of 14 extra-care villages and schemes run by the ExtraCare Charitable Trust. We follow Alemàn in regarding residents' ambivalent accounts of life in ExtraCare as important windows on the way in which liminal residents negotiate the dialectics of dependence and independence. However, we suggest that the dialectic of interest here is that of the third and fourth age, as described by Gilleard and Higgs. We set that dialectic within a post-structuralist/Lacanian framework in order to examine the different modes of enjoyment that liminal residents procure in ExtraCare's third age public spaces and ideals, and suggest that their complaints can be read in three ways: as statements about altered material conditions; as inter-subjective bolstering of group identity; and as fantasmatic support for liminal identities. Finally, we examine the implications that this latter psycho-social reading of residents' complaints has for enhancing and supporting residents' wellbeing.