Older People as Care Givers and Their Roles in Family in the Era of Active Ageing: Case of the Czech Republic

• Authors: Marcela Petrová Kafková

Title variants

PL

Ludzie starsi w roli opiekunów domowych jako aktywna starość: przypadek Czech

• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

In this paper I deal with the issue of care that older people provide to others. In the traditional paradigm, older people are being perceived as recipients of care, but there are new views that show that they are also important providers of care, especially for those of younger age. This text focuses on the purpose for the three major social roles of older people—the role of grandparents, the role of care giving, and the economical role, as well as the intensity with which older people perform these roles. It also describes the balance of these roles and the effects this harmonization brings for the well-being of the older person. As the primary source, the data SHARE 2010 for the Czech Republic is being used. The results showed significant activity of the older people in the intergenerational family solidarity. Most of older people babysit their grandchildren, approximately one-third of them provide personal and practical assistance to other individuals. All such care, whether it be for grandchildren or for other relatives, is often quite intense. The data indicated traditionally higher participation of women in care. A surprising finding from the analysis, though, is the minor effect of the care on well-being of the care giver.

PL

W artykule zajmuję się zagadnieniem opieki, którą starsze osoby świadczą na rzecz innych. Zgodnie z tradycyjnym paradygmatem starsze osoby są postrzegane jako odbiorcy opieki, jednakże występują także sytuacje, kiedy są one również ważnymi wykonawcami opieki, szczególnie kierowanej do osób, które są od nich młodsze. Tekst koncentruje się na trzech głównych rolach społecznych pełnionych przez osoby starsze: dziadków, opiekunów i roli ekonomicznej. Uwzględnia także stopień intensywności, w jakim pełnią one te role i opisuje związany z nimi bilans oraz korzyści płynące z ich ‘zgrania’ na rzecz dobrego samopoczucia osób starszych. Głównym źródłem są dane dla Czech pozyskane w ramach badania SHARE 2010. Wyniki wykazały istotną aktywność starszych osób pod względem międzypokoleniowej jedności rodziny. Większość z nich opiekuje się swoimi wnukami, a około 1/3 tej populacji świadczy zindywidualizowaną i praktyczną pomoc dla innych. Wszystkie rodzaje opieki, bez względu na to, czy pomoc dotyczy wnuków czy innych krewnych, w wielu przypadkach są dość intensywne. Dane wykazały, że udział kobiet w tej pomocy jest tradycyjnie wyższy. Jednym z zaskakujących wyników tej analizy jest niewielki skutek, jaki ten typ opieki wywiera na dobre samopoczucie samego opiekuna.

Keywords

EN

older people; SHARE; grandparents; active ageing; Czech Republic; role overload

PL

ludzie starsi; SHARE; dziadek/babacia; aktywne starzenie; Czechy; odwrócone role

• Publisher: Institute of Philosophy and Sociology, Polish Academy of Sciences
• Journal: Studia Socjologiczne
• Year: 2015
• Issue: 2(217)
• Pages: 49-73

Contributors

author

Marcela Petrová Kafková

• Masaryk University

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