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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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Pursuing security
— economic resources and the ontological security of older New Zealanders | | Author(s) | Juliana Mansvelt, Mary Breheny, Christine Stephens |
| Journal title | Ageing and Society, vol 34, no 10, November 2014 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press, November 2014 |
| Pages | pp 1666-1687 |
| Source | journals.cambridge.org/aso |
| Keywords | Cost of living ; Wealth ; Assets [elderly] ; Qualitative Studies ; Australia. |
| Annotation | Access to economic resources influences the material conditions of life for older people, as well as their freedom and capacity to achieve the kind of lives they value. Security is one aspect of later life valued by older people. Ontological security provides a sense of order and continuity, and needs to be understood in terms of the situated life experiences and circumstances of older people. The study reported in this paper analysed 145 qualitative interviews with New Zealanders aged 63-93 in order to explore how participants understand ontological security. Varying levels of access to economic resources were associated with differing abilities of participants to manage the unpredictability of everyday life. Among the wealthy, security was strongly connected to the freedoms provided by ample financial resources. Contrary to what might be expected, those with the lowest levels of economic resources did not express higher levels of insecurity, but instead drew upon life experiences of managing and making do to construct a trajectory of security. Those with mid-range levels of economic resources expressed most insecurity, including anxiety over changing economic conditions and concerns over their ability to manage reductions in economic resources. The paper highlights the need to recognise ways in which access to economic resources intersect with life circumstances, past experiences and future social expectations to provide opportunities for all older people to pursue security as they strive to age well. (RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-150612002 A |
| Classmark | J3C: W7: JD: 3DP: 7YA |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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