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British Society of Gerontology Conference 2024

Newcastle University has been successful in applying to host the British Society of Gerontology Annual Conference in 2014. The event will take place from the 3rd to the 5th July 2024.

The British Society of Gerontology is the leading academic and professional organisation representing gerontologists in the UK. The Society's annual conference typically attracts around 400 delegates from around the world, made up of academics and practitioners interested in a wide range of issues related to ageing.

Newcastle University has a longstanding commitment to interdisciplinary research on ageing. The conference will be organised by the Centre for Ageing and Inequalities, which brings together gerontologists from across the University working in the social and health sciences, digital technologies, and the arts and humanities.

The conference will be held in the Newcastle Helix, a global centre for urban innovation in the heart of the city that brings together academia, the public sector, communities, and business. Much of the conference will be housed in a dedicated conference facility, the Frederick Douglass Centre.

David Lain, who is one of the organisers of the conference, said: 'We are delighted to be given the opportunity to host the British Society of Gerontology Conference in 2024. We look forward to welcoming delegates for what will be an exciting programme of conference activities'.

For further information please contact Dr David Lain (david.lain@newcastle.ac.uk)

Older Workers in Transition

The Centre for Ageing and Inequalities at Newcastle University was delighted to host the online book launch for 'Older Workers in Transition: European Experiences in a Neoliberal Era'. It was held on 3rd November 2022, and it celebrated the recent publication of this new edited volume from Bristol University Press.

Book editor David Lain from Newcastle University welcomed participants. Co-editor Sarah Vickerstaff then explained the background to the publication. The book explores older workers' experiences of different types of transitions, including redeployment within the firm, temporary employment, and attempts to leave unemployment. It was argued that such transitions are increasingly important in the context of pressures to extend working lives in Europe and elsewhere.

Chris Phillipson discussed how job transitions in older age have been influenced historically by different pressures. He plotted the development of retirement in the 1950s and 1960s, and the move towards extended working lives since the 1990s. This move to extended working lives, it was argued, coincided with the rise of more precarious forms of employment. Chris Phillipson suggested that these changes were often presented as offering people more choice, but in reality they resulted in greater degrees of risk.

Following on from this, David Lain gave an overview of the book, focusing on the empirical chapters. These were written by leading scholars, who drew on the qualitative research to explore the lived experiences of older workers. It was argued that see a consistent influence of 'neoliberal responsibilisation' across the diverse range of countries covered. This a political trend shifts responsibility onto the older person to choose to take whatever job opportunities are available to them, while providing limited support to help them make such transitions.

Aine Ni Leime gave the final presentation, discussing her chapter on older care workers and teachers in Ireland. It was argued that care workers in her research expected to work significantly longer than teachers, due to the financial consequences of low-paid work over the life course. This highlights inequalities that are likely to occur as a result of extended working lives.

Older Workers in Transition if the first book in 'Rethinking Work and Retirement' book series. Co-editor Mariska van der Horst closed the session by discussing forthcoming books from the series, and opportunities to write for it.

You can see a recording of the event here.