2020 is a turbulent year for all generations. As the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic swept the world, social distancing, the avoidance of touch and face-to-face contacts, suddenly became a new social norm. Older adults and young children feared to be the most vulnerable groups in the face of coronavirus are particularly affected by the crisis, as intergenerational contacts had to be limited to avoid the risk of infection. In the United States alone, people 65 and older comprise nearly 80% of COVID-19 deaths.
What will become of intergenerational relationships – both from the familial and community realms with the new norm? There is reason to be pessimistic and worry that social isolation and loneliness will become more prevalent – we have already seen this affecting older adults all over the world as countries adopt varying measures of shut down. Under the new norm, social prejudice and ageism toward older adults may intensify as opportunities to interact diminishes between the generations.
But at the same time, there are reasons to be optimistic as the crisis brings to the fore new possibilities from the intergenerational paradigm. The manifesto under the motto “Intergenerationality adds up lives” announced in the midst of the pandemic on 29 April 2020 in the occasion of the European Day of Solidarity between Generations is a timely call. It rejects the necessary distancing as a social one, alerting to the fact that it is ‘physical distancing’ that people should adhere to; social connections can still flourish in the absence of physical contact, and it is all the more necessary to strengthen intergenerational connections in the confines of spatial restriction. The manifesto looks for new means and modes for linking the generations, urging that the intergenerational paradigm be adopted as the ‘main axis to raise and design the horizons of a new social model.’
At the Journal of Intergenerational Relationships, we are beginning to see new ideas and research findings pushing for new ways to engage the generations. This research did not just suddenly appear with the onset of the pandemic, rather, the literature in the intergenerational field has been interested for some time in promoting technology and new media as ways to maintain intergenerational connections. But we observe that during the pandemic, we have had more submissions discussing ways to address the digital divide, understanding the impact of digital connections on the generations, and suggestions on how the generations could be encouraged to remain socially engaged through digital means. Michael Urick’s paper “Generational Differences and COVID-19: Positive Interactions in Virtual Workplaces” in this volume, Volume 18, Issue 4, marks the beginning of a series of articles that we can expect to collectively advance new ideas, research findings and develop critical insights on intergenerational relationships and programs. In particular, we look forward to the journal serving as a vehicle to grasp new information and knowledge contributing toward new theorizations and models through research and profiles of intergenerational programs carried out in different parts of the world during the pandemic period.