Family a 'shock absorber' in recession

THE FAMILY is proving to be a significant “shock absorber” for those affected by the recession, with “strong solidarity” between younger and older generations, according to preliminary results of new research due to be published today.

While there may debates over unsustainable pension burdens in France and Germany, there is little evidence of potential intergenerational conflict in Ireland, a joint study by NUI Galway (NUIG) and Trinity College Dublin (TCD) has found. However, the research has indicated there is widespread distrust in the ability of policymakers to rectify unfair allocation of resources.

The Changing Generations research project, supported by Atlantic Philanthropies, is a study run by NUIG’s Irish Centre for Social Gerontology and TCD’s Social Policy and Ageing Research centre. It involves interviews with 100 women and men of all ages and social backgrounds living in Ireland and is aimed at exploring relations between generations.

Those without a family network find it more difficult to imagine a positive future for themselves, the study notes.

Publication of the final report is due later in 2012, this being European Year for Active Ageing and Solidarity between Generations.

Dr Gemma Carney, NUIG’s main researcher on the project, said yesterday the research aimed to build on evidence presented in recent “big ideas” studies, including the Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing and the Growing Up in Ireland reports.