Poster Session on Population ageing and intergenerational relations (2)

According to the 2001 Census, individuals from Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) groups comprised about 10% of the total UK population, while the younger age structure of the BME population means that BME groups comprise less than 4% of the population aged 50 and over. Research has emphasised the health and socio-economic disadvantage experienced by BME groups, as well as the key policy challenge associated with the ageing of the BME population, and with their pension protection. More than half of Pakistani and Bangladeshi older people, half of Indian older people and about one-third of Black Caribbean older people, are in the bottom-fifth of the income distribution, while pensioners from these groups are more likely to rely on means-tested benefits. This paper analyses data from the first wave of Understanding Society, a UK-wide representative survey, in order to explore patterns of state pension receipt and the determinants of membership in an occupational pension scheme among older people aged 65 and over in five groups: Bangladeshi, Indian, Pakistani, Caribbean and African. The paper revisits existing research exploring the interaction of ethnicity and gender to the detriment of pension protection for both women and men from the Bangladeshi and Pakistani communities.

Socio-demographic trends are transforming the family and living structures of older households. These include greater longevity and smaller family size, a rise in the number of one person households, and more recently, the effects of the European economic crisis. New forms of older households are emerging as a result of these trends which will in turn influence social care policies directed towards the elderly population.
The research explores, from the perspective of older individuals, how social, demographic and economic trends are currently transforming older families and their living arrangements. The data source is the survey Families and Housing survey, (“Familles et logements”) 2011 (INSEE-INED), based on a sub-sample of the 2011 census (n=368,000). The research classifies different older household types according to family structures. These are then examined in relation to the proximity of family members in different households, as well as other socio-demographic characteristics contained within the census such as labour market participation of children.
The dynamics of older household living arrangements in the French population suggest that new and emerging solidarities within families need to be taken into account when designing current and future social care policies.