Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-m9kch Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-16T08:47:35.228Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Social networks amongst older people in OECD countries: a qualitative comparative analysis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 March 2020

Philip Haynes ,
Laura Banks  and
Michael Hill
Philip Haynes*
Affiliation:
School of Applied Social Science, University of Brighton, Mayfield House, Falmer, Brighton, UK
Laura Banks
Affiliation:
School of Applied Social Science, University of Brighton, Mayfield House, Falmer, Brighton, UK
Michael Hill
Affiliation:
School of Applied Social Science, University of Brighton, Mayfield House, Falmer, Brighton, UK
*
*Corresponding author. Email: p.haynes@brighton.ac.uk
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Using data from The International Social Survey Programme this paper compares the social networks of those aged 50 and above in 18 countries. Two different types of networks are conceptualised: family contact and community participation. Using qualitative comparative analysis (QCA), international sets are established for four groups of countries. Set one includes countries that only satisfy a minimal number of social network thresholds (France, Norway, Great Britain, Denmark and the USA). Set two includes a homogeneous group of countries with above-threshold rates of marriage and community participation (Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Austria and Canada). Other separate sets with stronger social network features comprise Eastern European countries (set three) and Southern Europe countries (set four) in these sets, family contacts are above the international country average but community participation is less strong. Country sets with low comparative threshold scores in the QCA are argued to be likely to be in greater need of government care policy interventions.

Keywords

older peoplesocial networksQCA
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of International and Comparative Social Policy , Volume 29 , Issue 1 , February 2013 , pp. 15 - 27
Copyright
Copyright © 2013 Taylor & Francis

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

This article was originally published with errors. This version has been corrected. Please see Corrigendum (http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/21699763.2013.822653).

References

Akiyama, H., Krause, N., Liang, J., Okabayashi, H. and Sugisawa, H. 2004. Mental health among older adults in Japan: Do sources of social support and negative interaction make a difference?. Social Science & Medicine, 59 (11): 2259–2270.Google Scholar
Auslander, G. K. and Litwin, H. 1990. Social support networks and formal help seeking: Differences between applicants to social services and a nonapplicant sample. Journals of Gerontology, 45: S112–S119.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Banks, L., Haynes, P. and Hill, M. 2008. “A comparative analysis of informal networks among older people in Eastern and Western European states”. In The ageing societies of central and Eastern Europe: Some problems? Some solutions, Edited by: Hoff, A. and Perek-Bialas, J.31–62. Cracow: Jagiellonian University Press.Google Scholar
Banks, L., Haynes, P. and Hill, M. 2009. Living in single person households and the risk of isolation in later life. International Journal of Ageing and Later Life, 4 (1): 55–86.Google Scholar
Barnes, M. 2012. Care in everyday life: An ethic of care in practice, Bristol: Policy Press.Google Scholar
Borsch-Supan, A., Brugiavini, A., Jürges, H., Mackenbach, J., Siegrist, J., & Weber, G. (eds.). (2003). Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe. First Results from SHARE (Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe SHARE). Retrieved from http://www.share-project.org/ Mannheim.Google Scholar
Blumstein, T., Guralnik, J. M. and Walter-Ginzburg, A. 2004. The Israeli kibbutz as a venue for reduced disability in old age: Lessons from the cross-sectional and longitudinal aging study (CALAS. Social Science and Medicine, 59 (2): 389–403.Google Scholar
Crompton, R. 2006. Employment and the family: The reconfiguration of work and family life in contemporary societies, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
GESIS - Leibniz-Institute for the Social Sciences. (2007). International Social Survey Programme 2001: Social Networks II (ISSP 2001) Mannheim: Leibniz-Institute for the Social Sciences. http://zacat.gesis.orgGoogle Scholar
Glendinning, C., Schunk, M. and McLaughlin, E. 1996. Paying for long term domiciliary care: A comparative perspective. Ageing and Society, 17 (2): 123–240.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harvey, I., Sharp, D., Stoddart, H. and Whitley, E. 2002. What determines the use of home care services by elderly people?. Health and Social Care in the Community, 10 (5): 348–360.Google Scholar
Haynes, P. 2012. Public policy beyond the financial crisis: An international comparative study, London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Hudson, J. and Kuhner, S. 2010. Beyond the dependent variable problem: The methodological challenges of capturing productive and protective dimensions of social policy. Social Policy and Society, 9 (2): 167–179.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kandalaft, A. 2012. The growing problem of elderly care in France, London: The Guardian Newspaper. Retrieved from http://www.guardian.co.uk/social-care-network/2012/jan/11/growing-problem-elderly-care-franceGoogle Scholar
Keysor, J. J., Desai, T. and Mutran, E. J. 1999. Elders’ preferences for care setting in short and long-term disability scenarios. The Gerontologist, 39 (3): 334–344.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kharicha, K., Iliffe, S., Harari, D., Swift, C., Gillmann, G. and Stuck, A. 2007. Health risk appraisal in older people 1: Are older people living in single person households an ‘at risk’ group?. British Journal of General Practice, 57: 271–276.Google Scholar
Kroger, T. ed. (2003). Families, work and social care in Europe. A qualitative study of care arrangements in Finland, France, Italy, Portugal and the UK. Soccare Project Report 6. Retrieved from http://www.uta.fi/laitokset/sospol/soccare/Google Scholar
Litwin, H. 1996. The social networks of older people: A cross-national comparison, Edited by: Litwin, H.Oxford: Greenwood Publishing.Google Scholar
Lundsgaard, J. (2005). Consumer direction and choice in long-term care for older persons, including payments for informal care. OECD Working Papers 20. Paris: OECD.Google Scholar
McCusker, J., Cole, M., Dufouil, C., Dendukuri, N., Latimer, E., Windholz, S. and Elie, M. 2005. The prevalence and correlates of major and minor depression in older medical inpatients. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 53 (8): 1344–1353.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
OECD. 2000. Reforms for an ageing society, OECD: Paris.Google Scholar
Osterle, A. and Hammer, E. 2007. “Care allowances and the formalization of care arrangements: The Austrian experience”. In Cash for care in developed welfare states, Edited by: Ungerson, C. and Yeandle, S.13–31. London: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Phillips, J., Bernard, M., Phillipson, C. and Ogg, J. 2000. Social support in later life: A study of three areas. British Journal of Social Work, 30 (6): 837–53.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ragin, C. 1987. The comparative method. Moving beyond qualitative and quantitative strategies, Berkeley: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Ragin, C. 2000. Fuzzy-set social science, Chicago: Chicago University Press.Google Scholar
Rihoux, B. and De Meur, G. 2009. “Crisp set qualitative analysis (csQCA)”. In Configurational comparative methods: Qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) and related techniques, Edited by: Rihoux, B. and Ragin, C.33–68. London: Sage.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rihoux, B., Rezsöhazy, I. and Bol, D. 2011. Qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) in public policy analysis: An extensive review. German Policy Studies, 7 (3): 9–82.Google Scholar
Simoni, S. and Trifiletti, R. 2004. Caregiving in transition in Southern Europe: Neither complete altruists nor free-riders. Social Policy and Administration, 38 (6): 678–705.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van Groenou, M. and Van Tilburg, T. 2003. Network size and support in old age: Differentials by socio-economic status in childhood and adulthood. Ageing and Society, 23 (5): 625–645.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ward, L., Barnes, M., & Gahagan, B. (2012). Well being in old age: Findings from participatory research. Brighton: Brighton and Hove Age UK and University of Brighton. Retrieved from http://www.brighton.ac.uk/sass/older-people-wellbeing-and-participation/Google Scholar
Zunzunegui, M. V., Koné, A., Johri, M., Béland, F., Wolfson, C. and Bergman, H. 2004. Social networks and self-rated health in two French-speaking Canadian community dwelling populations over 65. Social Science & Medicine, 58 (10): 2069–2081.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed