Abstract (EN):
This thesis analyses the welfare arrangements of the Portuguese elderly from an
historical and a sociological perspective. Two goals form the focus of the thesis.
First, it attempts to enrich the discussion on familialism as a model of welfare
provision in old age in Portugal. Starting with the historical analysis of the process of
consolidation of a model of welfare provision that is based on a set of assumptions
about the existence of intergenerational ties and kin solidarity throughout the life
course, the thesis moves on to the sociological analysis of family dynamics and
normative propositions related to welfare arrangements in old age. The broad
question underlying the analysis is to know how resilient and operative is familialism
as a logics of welfare provision for the Portuguese elderly. The thesis shows that the
resilience of familialism in the lives of the elderly is related to a complex set of social,
economic and normative intricacies that still provide for a support network in old age
but that show signs of being under accelerated erosion.
Second, the thesis aims to make a contribution to the analysis of welfare states and
social policies in familialist countries by demonstrating the explanatory power of
family arrangements for understanding welfare arrangements in old age. This
involves introducing in the analysis of welfare arrangements a focus on
intergenerational and kin relationships, demonstrating how the familialist model is
intertwined with a complex network of exchanges of support that goes beyond the
needs of the elderly and that is in fact structured around the functional roles of each
member of the household and/or family for the welfare of the whole.
The thesis draws on review of literature and secondary data analysis. The data used
came from three main sources: the European Community Household Panel (1998),
the Portuguese Family Budget Survey (2000) and the Eurobarometer Survey Series
(1992, 1995 and 1998-99). The analysis of data has privileged a descriptive approach,
using some multivariate analysis to make meaningful synthesis. It combines crossnational
comparative analysis with a case-study focus. The goal of the empirical
analysis was to come up with a holistic synthesis of welfare arrangements of the
Portuguese elderly linking them to three main dimensions: institutional, familial and
normative.
Idioma:
Inglês
Tipo (Avaliação Docente):
Científica
Notas:
PhD Thesis London School of Economics and Political Science (London School of Economics and Political Science)