This reflection was prompted by a conference organised by the Institute of Contemporary History in Ljubljana on transitions and life trajectories of older people living in poverty. On 25 September, andragogues, sociologists, psychologists, social workers and researchers came together. They are well acquainted with the challenges faced by older people and are increasingly concerned about poverty in later life. The first conclusion? A wealth of data has been gathered. But what is done with it? Where does the process break down? In policy-making? Why do the data not lead to solutions and strategies? According to Dr Marta Gregorčič, there is no clear answer. The multitude of, albeit bureaucratised, forms of support gives the impression that the country is maintaining a sense of compassionate equality – a legacy of socialist times. Yet when confronted with an individual case of poverty, many systems fall short.
Among older people living in poverty, women are in the majority. Why? Men were more likely to have had opportunities for upskilling during their working lives, whereas women often did not. There were no intermediate positions available to them, and managerial roles were typically filled by men, who now receive higher pensions as a result.
In Slovenia, around 100,000 older people are living in poverty. Many are victims of the post-socialist transition. They lost their jobs early, retired early, and some, despite having worked for forty years, still live below the poverty line. They are forced to seek help from social work centres because their glasses have broken or they need a hearing aid – expenses that some pensions simply do not cover. Many have also experienced exploitation. Those who suffered the most were the erased and low-educated workers from Bosnia. Even during socialism, Slovenian employers often lent them out to other companies, and workers frequently did not even know who their official employer was. In many cases, employers failed to pay the mandatory social security contributions on their behalf.
They are treated as superfluous, since they are not even consumers
When are we considered poor? The feeling is subjective, yet many older people living in poverty share the belief that they need nothing. “They feel ashamed; they feel stigmatised,” says Dr Meta Mencej. In a neoliberal society, older people in poverty are treated as superfluous, as useless, not even seen as consumers. Yet it is challenging not to be a consumer in a consumer society. People feel guilty for not having succeeded in life and therefore refuse help. In old age, they struggle with dependence on children, grandchildren or institutions.
A precious social network
Most people in poverty rely on their social networks for survival. For older individuals, this network is often limited to the family. Only when there are no relatives do neighbours step in. Modern technology is not a solution for this population. When they do receive help from institutions, they are deeply grateful – yet still reluctant to accept support. They do not borrow money. And if they do own anything, it is considered dead capital – assets of little or no real value that nevertheless disqualify them from receiving assistance, explains Dr Vesna Leskošek.
Life transitions have led to an accumulation of many forms of inequality
The life transitions discussed at the conference have led to an accumulation of inequalities. The timing of a normative transition also matters. If a person loses their parents at three, twenty or sixty, the event is the same, but the experience is entirely different.
Transitions bring changes in identity. Young people from low-income families lacked access to education, which resulted in turbulent working lives through no fault of their own. Men had more varied career paths than women, who also undertook care work at home and often had no career aspirations.
Poverty is emerging in an increasing number of forms: energy, transport and food poverty, to name but a few. There are currently around 330,000 people living in poverty in the general population, and the aim is to reduce this number. But will we? People who are disadvantaged early in life remain disadvantaged. Lower levels of education are associated with lower employment rates, greater dependency and higher mortality.
The question of poverty is not new in Slovenia. Back in 2007, I reflected on it in an article titled Graditi dostojanstvo in tkati družbene vezi (Building dignity and weaving social bonds, in Slovenian) published in the journal Studies in Adult Education and Learning. At that time, I wrote: “Education aimed at preventing and eradicating poverty and enabling social inclusion is most often focused on training or retraining for work. Yet we would need more programmes that strengthen social bonds, as these tend to weaken among people living in poverty.”
Dr Dušana Findeisen (dusanafindeisen1@gmail.com), Slovenian U3A