Population ageing draws more and more attention to retirement. As the number of retirees increases, retirement becomes a prominent part of life and diverse retirement lifestyles emerge. Societies, states and markets adapt to the increasing number of retirees, for example through pension reforms. Life-course scholars underline that the situation in old age depends on what happened earlier during people’s lives: to understand retirement we need to look at people’s youth and middle-age, and effective retirement policies would need to intervene at an early age. This workshop explores life-course influences on the different aspects of retirement. Example topics are:
– how working careers influence retirement age and pensions,
– how childhood living conditions influence health and well-being after retirement,
– how cumulative (dis)advantages shape social inequalities in retirement,
– how life-course influences affect care arrangement and family structures during retirement, and
– how social policies shape life-course influences on retirement.
Workshop content
During the workshop, the PhD students present their research and get feedback from senior researchers. Some of the senior researchers acting as discussants are:
– Prof. Traute Mayer, University of Southampton, United Kingdom,
– Prof.em. Jorma Sipilä, University of Tampere, Finland,
– Prof. Dirk Hofäcker, University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany, and
– Prof. Jonas Radl, University Carlos III of Madrid, Spain.
Moreover, PhD students learn about stakeholder engagement, which is a dialogue between researchers and the people who will be affected by the research findings. Such a dialogue greatly enhances the societal impact of research, an aspect that is increasingly required by research funding agencies. One workshop session trains PhD students in how to set up a stakeholder engagement. Additionally, the PhD students participate in a stakeholder dialogue with senior researchers and practitioners on the relevance of life-course influences on retirement. Some of the participants in the stakeholder dialogue are:
– Prof. Joakim Palme, Uppsala University, Sweden,
– Dr. Anna D’Addio (OECD), and
– representatives of the Finnish Center for Pensions, a Finnish trade union for higher education and a mutual pension insurance.
How to apply
The workshop is designed for PhD students and junior researchers. The participants do not need to have any prior experience with stakeholder engagement. To apply for the workshop, submit an abstract (max. 250 words) until February 01, 2017. Quantitative, qualitative and conceptual studies are welcome. Accepted participants will submit a complete manuscript by May 01, 2017. The manuscript can either be the draft for an article or a chapter from a dissertation. The participation fee is 150 Euros. This fee includes workshop material, and lunch and refreshments during the breaks.
The workshop is organized by Helsinki University, the Finnish Center for Pensions, the Research Network on Ageing in Europe, the European Social Policy Analysis Network, and the Finnish Social Policy Association.
For more information, see http://blogs.helsinki.fi/komp/?page_id=78
For inquiries and to submit your abstract, email prof. Kathrin Komp kathrin.komp@helsinki.fi .
