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Comment vivre dans un monde vieillissant ? Les personnes âgées en France, 1800-1940

Author

Listed:
  • Jérôme Bourdieu

    (PSE - Paris School of Economics - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS-PSL - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement, LEA - Laboratoire d'Economie Appliquée - INRA - Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique)

  • Lionel Kesztenbaum

    (INED - Institut national d'études démographiques)

Abstract

Compared with other European countries, population ageing began particularly early in France. That trend affected both societal organization and family ties. Examining changes in asset ownership by the French between 1820 and 1940 reveals that the proportion of people who died leaving no estate increased, and increased at every age. Taking this dual observation as a starting point, this paper seeks to analyse the strategies employed by older people to survive through old age, utilizing three types of resources: personal economic resources, family resources and state resources. The analysis shows the heterogeneity of this older age group and hence of the survival strategies deployed. Savings are a solution only for a minority; they enable access to other resources and in particular offer an alternative to continued employment. It is also shown that pensions, which were introduced gradually, facilitated more widespread access to savings. Lastly, the growing share of older people in the French population was accompanied by the increasing role of state support.

Suggested Citation

  • Jérôme Bourdieu & Lionel Kesztenbaum, 2007. "Comment vivre dans un monde vieillissant ? Les personnes âgées en France, 1800-1940," PSE-Ecole d'économie de Paris (Postprint) halshs-00825189, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:pseptp:halshs-00825189
    DOI: 10.3917/popu.702.0221
    as

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