GENPATH is an international European research project focussing on social exclusion in later life.
Social exclusion is a multifaceted social problem with substantial disruptive consequences for individuals and society. One aspect of social exclusion is the exclusion from social relations, which is the key focus GENPATH.
The high number of socially excluded older people and the consequences of old age social exclusion for older women and men´s health and well-being form the urgent rationale for the study.
GENPATH will generate and disseminate the necessary knowledge for informed, evidence-based policy interventions, sensitive to gender, life course and welfare state contexts.
The overall objectives of the project aim to contribute to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals within good health and well-being, gender equality, decent work and economic growth, reduced inequalities, and sustainable cities and communities.
The following countries participate in GENPATH: Austria, Czech Republic (coordinator), Germany, Sweden, Israel, Ireland, Norway, and Spain.
Main research questions
- What is the prevalence of exclusion from social relations and its risk factors in later life in Europe and how does this vary across societies as well as between older men and women?
- What are outcomes of exclusions from social relations in later life in Europe and how do these vary across societies as well as between older men and women?
- Do variations in micro-, meso-, and macro-level drivers for exclusion, including the gendered social norms, key life transitions and exclusionary processes, help to explain cross-national and gender differences in the prevalence of exclusion from social relations?
- Do micro-, meso-, and macro-level factors, including the gendered social norms, key life transitions and exclusionary processes, have a moderating or mediating impact on outcomes of exclusion from social relations and do differences in the prevalence of these factors explain cross-national and gender differences in outcomes from exclusion from social relations?
- How to design policies and interventions to address the sources and alleviate the negative outcomes of the exclusion from social relations in men and women during their life course? And how, if at all, should these policies and interventions be fitted to welfare regimes of various nation states?
Methods
To answer the research questions we employ a cross-national comparative mixed method design. Data for the quantitative analyses will be derived from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), and other European sources such as the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions 2005-15 (EU-SILC), and the Generations and Gender Program (GGP).
The project will apply additional national data sources. This includes national survey and registry data, which offer an even broader, but not harmonized longitudinal data basis.
GENPATH will also use time-series country-level macro indicators from different sources, e.g. UNU-WIDER (2017), AMECO (2016) and others to delineate key country characteristics that may amplify or reduce the risks for social exclusion and the role of gender in it."
Participants at OsloMet
Partner institutions
- Masaryk University (Co-ordinator)
- University of Vienna (Responsible person Franz Kolland)
- National University of Ireland (Responsible person Dr. Kieran Walsh)
- Linköping University (Responsible person Andreas Motel-Klingebiel)
- Universitat de Barcelona (Responsible person Feliciano Villar Posada)
- University of Haifa (Responsible person Ariela Lowenstein)
