Aging & Social Change: Ninth Interdisciplinary Conference

Abstract

There have been intense debates on the significance of social, civic, and political participation of elder citizens. Portugal is the country with the third highest ageing index in Europe, 153.2% in 2017, and therefore the topic is particularly relevant. Our focus is on the experiences of citizens over sixty years who are members of different organizations recognized as spaces for social, civic, and/or political participation. This paper is based on a total of sixteen interviews to identify the main motivations and obstacles to participation. Using thematic analysis our findings shows that citizens over sixty have many and varied experiences in these organizations. In some cases they are founding members, especially of senior universities and groups that promote senior citizens’ rights. In fact, the engagement in specific contexts for elderly people (e.g. senior universities or volunteer groups for the elderly) and the feeling of ‘being useful’ to the community are the main motivations mentioned by the interviewees. Many also mention that their involvement with those entities is due to an invitation or to an external challenge. As for barriers, they identify issues like economic restraints or lack of information, family duties (namely looking over their grandchildren), disbelief in the associative institutions or in the usefulness of their own participation efforts. We discuss how these findings relate to research on the motivations and barriers felt by other age groups, and reflect upon policies and practices that promote or restrict the opportunities for elderly citizens to participate and learn in today’s society.