Centre for Policy on Ageing



The social connectedness of older Europeans — patterns, dynamics and contexts
Author(s)	Martin Kohli, Karsten Hank, Harald Künemund
Journal title	Journal of European Social Policy, vol 19, no 4, October 2009
Pages	pp 327-340
Source	http://esp.sagepub.com
Keywords	Integration [elderly] ; Social contacts ; Personal relationships ; Participation ; European Union ; Cross national surveys ; Longitudinal surveys ; Europe.
Annotation	Using longitudinal data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), this article shows that the population aged 50 or older is socially connected in several ways. The various dimensions of social connectedness turn out to be complementary rather than substitutive, except for the relationship between informal social relations and family relations, which tends to be characterized by substitution. Longitudinal analysis of SHARE reveals that the dynamics of formal and informal social relations as well as family relations tend to be driven by individuals' resources and needs. While the associations between older people's social connectedness and individual characteristics are very similar across countries, significant regional variation regarding the levels and the dynamics of social connectedness was found. (KJ/RH).
Accession Number	CPA-091117206 A
Classmark	F:TO: TOA: DS: TMB: WFC: 3K: 3J: 74
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...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing.