De aanpak van eenzaamheid

Veel mensen in Nederland zijn eenzaam. Vaak heeft dat te maken met het overlijden van een naaste, scheiding, ziekte, pensionering, verhuizing en een opeenstapeling van problemen. Meestal is eenzaamheid tijdelijk. Langdurige eenzaamheid vermindert de kwaliteit van leven en kan leiden tot ernstige lichamelijke en psychische klachten. Eenzaamheid is ook een maatschappelijk probleem. Denk aan maatschappelijk ongewenst gedrag, verwaarlozing en verslaving. Eenzaam zijn is nog steeds taboe en daardoor ook een verborgen probleem. Mensen willen noch aan zichzelf noch aan anderen toegeven dat ze eenzaam zijn. Via interventies wordt geprobeerd om de eenzaamheid te bestrijden. Er bestaan evenwel hardnekkige misverstanden rond eenzaamheid. Zo zou eenzaamheid zijn toegenomen door de voortschrijdende individualisering, zouden vooral ouderen en alleenstaanden er last van hebben en zou een contactrijke omgeving de eenzaamheid verminderen. Veel zaken kunnen de interventie echter in de weg staan en daardoor de kans op succes verminderen. Eenzaamheid is een complex verschijnsel, van buitenaf niet waarneembaar, en kent vele oorzaken en oplossingsmogelijkheden

Norms of filial obligation in the Netherlands

In this article we examine to what extent norms of filial obligation in the Netherlands are shaped by group value patterns, family constellation, possibilities for helping others, and actual experiences of support exchange. The data are drawn from the first wave of the combined main and migrant sample of the Netherlands Kinship Panel Study, the Dutch participant in the Generations and Gender Programme. The Dutch appear reluctant to prescribe how other people should behave towards their ageing parents. Value patterns are the strongest determinants of filial norms, with migrants, the low-educated, and persons with religious beliefs espousing strong filial norms. Contrary to what traditional gender roles would suggest, women less strongly endorse norms of filial obligation than men, and contrary to the notion that divorce weakens family ties, divorcees and children of divorce do not exhibit less commitment to filial norms. Altruistic tendencies are evident in the weaker filial norms among the older age groups, and among those with non co-resident children. Finally, the results show a high level of consonance between actual support exchanges and filial norms

Being lonely later in life: a qualitative study among Albanians and Moroccans in Italy

ABSTRACT This study focuses on the social wellbeing of older migrants in Italy, an important yet neglected topi

Vergrijzing: ramp of uitdaging

De veranderingen in het demografische landschap van ederland zijn snel gegaan.Wetenschappers en politici zijn nog druk bezig met het in kaart brengen van die veranderingen en het doorgronden van hun betekenis. Er is ook veel negativisme en mythevorming. Dit geldt vooral wanneer over onze vergrijzende samenleving wordt gesproken. Rampenscenario’s worden geschetst: de gezondheidszorg en de AOW worden onbetaalbaar, de kosten van de pensioenen zullen exponentieel toenemen, de arbeidsmarkt zal verstarren en de capaciteit van de mantelzorg zal ontoereikend zijn. Het gebrek aan demografische basiskennis in veel van deze toekomstschetsen is opvallend. Daarom hier een beeld dat de demografische realiteit minder geweld aandoet

Non-kin ties as a source of support in Europe: Understanding the role of cultural and institutional contexts

This study scrutinises the role of cultural and institutional contexts in shaping Europeans’ choices for a source of support. We draw attention to an often overlooked source of support: non-kin. Taking an interdisciplinary theoretical approach, we formulate a number of hypotheses on the impact of individualistic values, familialistic norms, generalised trust, and social protection expenditure. We test these contextual hypotheses by means of multilevel multinomia

Remittances and their Effect on Emigration Intentions in Egypt, Morocco and Turkey

What determines remittances – altruism or enlightened self-interest - and do remittances trigger additional migration? These two questions are examined empirically in Egypt, Turkey and Morocco for households with family members living abroad. Results show, first, that one cannot clearly pinpoint altruistic or motives of self-interest since each country tells a different story and within a country both motives can be defended as driving forces behind remittance behaviour. A general conclusion based on a multi-country study is that the family ties and the net earnin

Transnational ties: Resource or stressor on Peruvian migrants' well-being?

This paper explores the role of types and the intensity of transnational ties for migrants' well-being from a global perspective. Based on a literature review, two competing hypotheses are formulated—transnational resources versus transnational stress—according to which transnational ties have either a positive or a negative effect on migrants' well-being. Drawing on data from a large-scale survey of Peruvian migrants worldwide, this paper examines the strength and direction of the relationship between Peruvian migrants' transnational ties and poor well-being, the latter measured as depression/loneliness as a principal concern. While the multivariate regression results do not support the transnational resources hypothesis, partial support is found for the transnational stress hypothesis: more intense transnational ties are positively associated with poor well-being. Our study points the importance of considering transnational ties in research on migrants' well-being and indicates the relevance of developing adequate measurements and longitudinal research designs to explore the causal rela

Codebook of the families of Poles in the Netherlands (FPN) survey

Background of the survey The release of formal restrictions on the free movement of Central and Eastern Europeans that started with the end of the Cold War and the eastward enlargement of the European Union in the 2000s have led to new migration flows in Europe. Not surprisingly, the number of surveys carried out among migrants from former communist countries has increased significantly in recent years. These surveys, however, tend to focus on topics such as migration and job history, structural and socio-cultural integration in the host country, bonds with the country of origin or family formation and intermarriage. Insofar exchanges with family members are addressed, they tend to be about remittances to and frequency of contact with “the” family in the country that stayed behind. Information about migrants from Central and Eastern Europe regarding exchanges of money, practical support, emotional support with individual family members, background information on the family of origin, espoused family obligations, and marital and parenthood histories and well-being is scarce. The FPN survey was carried out to fill that void. In absolute terms, Poles are the largest group amongst emigrants from the Central and Eastern European countries which accessed the European Union in 2004. Estimates suggest that between 2004 and 2007, at least one million people emigrated from Poland. Among the top destination countries of Poles in Europe are Great Britain, Germany and the Netherlands. In the Netherlands, the annual number of Polish migrants currently entering the country is greater than the number of traditional migrant groups (Turks, Moroccans, Antilleans and Surinamese) taken together. There are more than 160,000 Poles in the Netherlands according to Statistics Netherlands

Comparing generations of migrants’ transnational behaviour: the role of the transnational convoy and integration

This paper compares generations (G1, G1.5, G2, G3) of male Turkish migrants to Europe in their transnational behaviours: contact frequency, visits, remittances, property ownership and voting. We aim to explain differences by generational differences in transnational convoy size and integration into residence countries. Data from 798 members of migrant families were obtained from 2000 Families. Generations differ in visiting, remitting, property ownership and voting, but not in contact frequency. Using regression analysis, the transnational convoy cannot explain transnational behaviours. Structural and socio-cultural integration impact various transnational behaviours within generations. Generally, waning of transnational ties across generations cannot be attributed to differences in transnational ties or integration. We add to knowledge on generational differences in transnational behaviour until the third generation and on determinants of transnational behaviour, but conclude that the field of transnational studies is in need of further refinement of operationalization and theory to understand generational differences in transnational behaviour