Trends in social exclusion among older women and men in Sweden

• Background: Social exclusion is a framework for understanding the complexity of disadvantage across various domains of life such as material resources, social relations, civic activities and services. Reviews have identified a lack of gender perspective in social exclusion research. This paper will introduce the framework of social exclusion, and examine trends over time in the levels of social exclusion across different life domains for older women and men in Sweden.Methods: Data on indicators of social exclusion were analysed from respondents aged 76+ years who participated in the 1992, 2002 and 2011 waves of the nationally representative Swedish Panel Study of Living Conditions of the Oldest Old (SWEOLD).Results: There was evidence of a gender different in exclusion from material resources and civic activities, from which women were more often excluded than men. Regardless of gender there were improvements in access to material resources, such as owning a house/apartment.  Social contacts (visiting or being visited by friends) decreased over time, while engagement in cultural activities and going to restaurants increased.Conclusions: Trends in social exclusion in older adults over the last 20 years are dependent on the domain considered. Over a range of indicators, older women were more vulnerable to exclusion than men, which needs to be taken into account in policy to combat exclusion.

Subject headings

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Sociologi -- Socialt arbete (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Sociology -- Social Work (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Att leva i samhällets utkant: Social exkludering bland äldre kvinnor och män i Sverige

Att leva i samhällets utkant: Social exkludering bland äldre kvinnor och män i Sverige

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

kon (subject category)