'That's just the way it goes' – perceptions of moving in old age

Western welfare states aim to enable living a good life among its citizens. However, defining living and especially ageing well vary, and there is a widening discussion about the actual contents and means of optimizing... [ view full abstract ]

Western welfare states aim to enable living a good life among its citizens. However, defining living and especially ageing well vary, and there is a widening discussion about the actual contents and means of optimizing opportunities for health, participation and security. Moreover, the question of responsibility for ensuring preconditions of wellbeing are ever more pertinent in graying societies struggling to make ends meet.
The purpose of this study is to explore how older people themselves perceive their own role in arranging their housing issues and everyday lives in anticipation of possible future needs. Old age is often viewed as a life phase in need of special consideration as challenges in housing and care may emerge with age related changes. In Finland, the idea of growing old at homes with adequate care services available (policy of ‘ageing in place’) is widely supported, but as possibilities for financing and organizing public universal services are currently under scrutiny, new kinds of divisions of responsibilities and provisions of services are being proposed.
Narrative analysis is employed to study the perceptions of moving among older people aged over 75 in regular housing. The data consists of narrative interviews gathered in MOVAGE Moving in Old Age: Transitions in Housing and Care research project. This article focuses on the question of to what extent these narrators perceive their relocation in old age as voluntary or necessary adjustment, and to what extent individual responsibility is perceived as expected, acceptable or exigent in housing arrangements. Which responsibilities in regards to means of maintaining ability to live a good life are willingly taken as individual, and under which circumstances should the responsibility for housing and care be turned to the public?