Intergenerational Solidarity: Strengthening Economic and Social Ties

Preface Never before have we witnessed a " silent revolution " of such significance for all sectors of society as the global phenomenon of population aging, which has a direct bearing on the meaning of generations, cohorts and intergenerational solidarity. Two key elements of this transformation stand out. First, there is a new architecture of society that entails social change, which challenges the established order between generations. Additionally, we have witnessed an increased complexity in extended family patterns and generational relations. Yet, however similar the challenge of population aging is worldwide, different ways of relating to this challenge have emerged. The first UN Assembly on Aging held in Vienna in 1982 made the following declaration: A longer life provides humans with an opportunity to examine their lives in retrospect, to correct some of their mistakes, to get closer to the truth and to achieve a different understanding of the sense and value of their actions. Twenty years later, the UN International Plan of Action on Aging held in Madrid in 2002 stated in Artic le 10: The potential of older persons is a powerful basis for future development. This enables society to rely increasingly on the skills, experience and wisdom of older persons, not only to take the lead in their own betterment but also to participate actively in that of society as a whole. United Nations announced that " older people strengthen cohesion in the families. " The Madrid International Plan of Action on Aging adopted by member states of the United Nations in April 2002 calls on governments and societies to improve and maintain the quality of life of older people. Thus, in order to create a " Society for all Ages " the family must be seen as a point of departure. One has to note, though, that the modern family is a family of relationships, more "centered on people rather than things" (Durkheim, 1933), having to assure for each of its members, young and old, women and men, the conditions for the construction of personal and social identity. Older people are usually embedded within family systems. Thus, based on the above declarations, the paper will describe and analyze changes in aging, family structures and family intergenerational solidarity, related to the " globalization " of aging, from a broad international and cross-cultural perspective. It will address some basic questions, issues and challenges emanating from the demographic, economic, …