Life course complexities situated in contemporary age demographics

Abstract

Despite the shifts in age demographics, few studies have explored contemporary perceptions of age-related expectations for work and family life. We examine whether the relationships between the respondents’ personal biographies (such as perceived career stage and gender) and social history (such as country context) affect perceptions of age-related norms. We analyze data from the multi-national 2009–2010 Generations of Talent Study survey to explore perceptions of age-related norms, comparing the responses of employees working in selected developed economies with those working in selected rapidly developing countries. These comparisons are compelling because of the demographic differences between these two groups. We find that three factors explain variance in perceptions of age-related norms: the respondent's age (using three indicators of age), the country where the respondent works, and gender.

A pesar de los cambios en las demografías de edad, pocos estudios han explorado las percepciones contemporáneas de las expectativas relacionadas con la edad en el trabajo y la vida familiar. Nosotros examinamos si las relaciones entre las biografías personales de los encuestados (como etapa percibida en su carrera y de género) y la historia social (como el contexto del país) afectan las percepciones de las normas relacionadas con la edad. Analizamos datos de la encuesta multinacional Generaciones de Talento 2009–2010 (Generations of Talent) (GOT) para explorar las percepciones de las normas relacionadas con la edad, comparando las respuestas de los empleados que trabajan en los paises seleccionados con economías desarrolladas con los empleados que trabajan en los países seleccionados en rápido desarrollo. Estas comparaciones son convincentes debido a las diferencias demográficas entre estos dos grupos. Encontramos que tres factores explican la variación en la percepción de las normas relacionadas con la edad: la edad de los encuestados (utilizando tres indicadores de edad), el país donde trabaja el encuestado, y de género.

Keywords:

• work–life
• age
• gender

Palabras claves:

• trabajo-vida
• edad
• género

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on the contributors

Marcie Pitt-Catsouphes is a Professor at the Boston College School of Social Work (BCSSW), and has appointments at the Boston College Carroll School of Management and the Business School at Middlesex University in London. Having a passion for the pursuit of social justice at the workplace, she has devoted her career to the examination of factors that affect the employment experiences of vulnerable populations. She founded the Work and Family Research Network in 1997 which has evolved into the premier, multi-disciplinary research association for scholars studying a range of work–family issues. From 2005 to 2015, she co-founded and served as Director of the Center on Aging & Work at Boston College which conducts research and promotes the quality of employment for older adults.

Tay K. McNamara is Co-Director of the Center on Aging & Work at Boston College. Due to her past experience in using large data sets, she both serves as an internal consultant and oversees research projects related to secondary data sets. Additionally, her current research projects include secondary analysis related to work in countries around the world and a primary data collection project dealing with state agencies as employers.

Notes

1. The term BRICS refers to Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. As noted later in this article, we include data from employees working in each of these countries with the exception of Russia.

2. See Vickers (1973) for a discussion of value and norms.

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation [grant number 500119].