Publication details
Czech grandparenting in the time of active ageing
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| Year of publication | 2013 |
| Type | Appeared in Conference without Proceedings |
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| Description | The dominance of active ageing concept and increasing longevity bring new challenges for older adults. Older adults’ contribution is being recognised at many levels: at macro level as GDP contributors (workers), at mezzo level as active citizens and members of the community and at micro level as an integral part of family solidarity, as providers of intergenerational support. The importance of grandparents for parent’s ability to work has been studied in different national and social contexts and the significance of mutual grandparent-grandchild relationship is well known as well. The increase of longevity prolongs the time of shared coexistence of family members. In the Czech Republic, as in the whole Europe, many people have become grandparents later and to small number of grandchildren but they enjoy this role longer and in better health. In the case of Czech society there is a considerable path dependency in the intergenerational dynamic. The socialist regime produced strong dependency of the young family on their parents. Parental generation provided place to live, financial and instrumental support. Last decades have brought erosion of the “full sacrifice for the young family” but still great majority of Czech older adults do help with care of their grandchildren. In the some time the employment rate in older age is increasing for both men and women. Using secondary analysis of GGS (Gender and Generation Survey) and SHARE (Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe) surveys we have focused on the work-family life balance in later life in the Czech society. Primarily we have concentrated on the patterns and determinants of intergenerational exchange between grandparents and their (grand)children. The paper is supported by Scientific Agency of Czech Republic Grant No. 13-34958S „Role overload: grandparents in the era of active ageing“. |
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