Inequalities in Opportunities for Ageing Well: The Significance of Transitions in Later Life View Digital Media

Colloquium
Marijke Veenstra,  Almar Kok,  Harpa Sif Eyjolfsdottir,  Bjørn Heine Strand,  Gøril Kvamme Løset,  Katharina Herlofson,  Oliver Huxhold  

Sustaining an ageing population calls for increased focus on prolonging good health and wellbeing across the whole life span, including old age. In this colloquium we will address the impact of transitions in later life (i.e. work exits, bereavement) on opportunities for ageing well across gender and socioeconomic position. In doing so, we aim to contribute to placing later life and ageing as a core concern in research on stratification and inequality and to new interdisciplinary knowledge at the intersection of health promotion, active ageing and health inequalities. This colloquium presents findings from ongoing work by researchers in ageing from Norway, Sweden, The Netherlands and Germany, who participate in a larger research project on transitions in later life (TRILL). After a general introduction of the project, the colloquium presents empirical research based on two large-scale longitudinal ageing studies. Two presentations focus on the extent to which bereavement in later life has a differential impact on opportunities for active ageing. The other two presentations focus on how work exit routes vary across gender and socioeconomic position and whether retirement transitions trigger pre-existing health inequalities. TRILL emphasizes possibilities for growth and adaption in old age and the importance of significant others in shaping individual lives. By focusing on variations in ageing well, the project does justice to the substantial heterogeneity among older people, also among those with low socioeconomic position. We invite the audience to discuss the relevance of the findings for policy approaches to the promotion of active and healthy ageing.