Artikel

Woongemeenschappen van ouderen: tussen zelfstandigheid en kolonisering

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Abstract

Communal living of elderly people : between independence and colonization - During the last decade, communal living of elderly people has become an interesting phenomenon in the Netherlands. It differs in some important respects from the ’communes’ that were popular amongst young people in the sixties and seventies. The elderly communal groups are politically and socially heterogeneous and their main motivation is to remain socially involved. From the perspective of policy makers, however, the main attractiveness of these communal forms lies in the possibility to cut down expenses for professional care. The latter perspective is too narrow to understand the meaning of these communal forms. It is shown that they represent in a nutshell some important developments concerning aging. They are one possible form of tackling the problem of the social and cultural void that has arisen for active elderly people, who retire earlier than ever before and who also have a longer life expectancy than ever before. Moreover, these communal arrangements represent a major trend of the broader process of modernization of primary relationships, leading to individualized social networks. Finally, they challenge the traditional perspective on the elderly from the viewpoint of care. Therefore, it is argued, social policy should refrain from ’colonizing’ these new forms, in order to solve budgetary problems. Communal living of the elderly appears primarily to be important for the social integration of this age group.

How to Cite:

Baars, J. & Thomése, F., (1992) “Woongemeenschappen van ouderen: tussen zelfstandigheid en kolonisering”, Tijdschrift voor Sociale Wetenschappen 37(4), 357–379. doi: https://doi.org/10.21825/tvsw.95120