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Theoretical Challenges and Social Inequalities in Active Ageing
Active ageing has been discussed in international political organisations and among researchers as a major means for combatting the challenges of demographic ageing. This study aims to make a critical-theoretical and empirical assessment of the active ageing concept, challenging the active ageing di...
Autores principales: | , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
MDPI
2021
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8431049/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34501746 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18179156 |
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author | Jensen, Per H. Skjøtt-Larsen, Jakob |
author_facet | Jensen, Per H. Skjøtt-Larsen, Jakob |
author_sort | Jensen, Per H. |
collection | PubMed |
description | Active ageing has been discussed in international political organisations and among researchers as a major means for combatting the challenges of demographic ageing. This study aims to make a critical-theoretical and empirical assessment of the active ageing concept, challenging the active ageing discourse from two different angles. First, an assessment of the theoretical framework of active ageing shows that the conceptual framework is undertheorised, lacks conceptual and analytical clarity, and fails to propose clear contributing factors and barriers. The second part presents an empirical analysis of the concept of active ageing guided by the following research question: is active ageing realistic—and for whom? Using Danish data subjected to multiple correspondence analysis, it is found that active ageing at the individual level is preconditioned by health, education, having good finances, etc. Furthermore, a Matthew effect of accumulated advantage is found; that is, older adults who are blessed in one sphere of life are also blessed in others, and such inequalities in old age are the outcomes of social life biographies (i.e., cumulative advantages/disadvantages over the life course). Thus, empirical findings indicate that active ageing may be an elusive goal for a large segment of older adults. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-8431049 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2021 |
publisher | MDPI |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-84310492021-09-11 Theoretical Challenges and Social Inequalities in Active Ageing Jensen, Per H. Skjøtt-Larsen, Jakob Int J Environ Res Public Health Article Active ageing has been discussed in international political organisations and among researchers as a major means for combatting the challenges of demographic ageing. This study aims to make a critical-theoretical and empirical assessment of the active ageing concept, challenging the active ageing discourse from two different angles. First, an assessment of the theoretical framework of active ageing shows that the conceptual framework is undertheorised, lacks conceptual and analytical clarity, and fails to propose clear contributing factors and barriers. The second part presents an empirical analysis of the concept of active ageing guided by the following research question: is active ageing realistic—and for whom? Using Danish data subjected to multiple correspondence analysis, it is found that active ageing at the individual level is preconditioned by health, education, having good finances, etc. Furthermore, a Matthew effect of accumulated advantage is found; that is, older adults who are blessed in one sphere of life are also blessed in others, and such inequalities in old age are the outcomes of social life biographies (i.e., cumulative advantages/disadvantages over the life course). Thus, empirical findings indicate that active ageing may be an elusive goal for a large segment of older adults. MDPI 2021-08-30 /pmc/articles/PMC8431049/ /pubmed/34501746 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18179156 Text en © 2021 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). |
spellingShingle | Article Jensen, Per H. Skjøtt-Larsen, Jakob Theoretical Challenges and Social Inequalities in Active Ageing |
title | Theoretical Challenges and Social Inequalities in Active Ageing |
title_full | Theoretical Challenges and Social Inequalities in Active Ageing |
title_fullStr | Theoretical Challenges and Social Inequalities in Active Ageing |
title_full_unstemmed | Theoretical Challenges and Social Inequalities in Active Ageing |
title_short | Theoretical Challenges and Social Inequalities in Active Ageing |
title_sort | theoretical challenges and social inequalities in active ageing |
topic | Article |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8431049/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34501746 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18179156 |
work_keys_str_mv | AT jensenperh theoreticalchallengesandsocialinequalitiesinactiveageing AT skjøttlarsenjakob theoreticalchallengesandsocialinequalitiesinactiveageing |