Precarity and Preparing for Old Age

Abstract

This chapter considers the issue of preparation for old age in precarious times. It is argued that precarity shapes old age preparations by constructing the aging context, by affecting mental preparations and by creating distinctive resources for old age. First, the chapter analyses how precarity shapes the health and work settings leading to the accumulation of disadvantages for precarious workers. Second, it is analyzed how precarity constitutes a threat to the individual self-identity by nurturing feelings of insecurity and an inability to plan. The chapter goes on to examine how precarity may also create novel resources and motivate people to redefine their preparatory strategies in an effort to age well. It is argued that when individuals experience a dissonance between the active aging policy ideas and their precarious lives, they reinvent preparation. Discrepancies between preparatory actions proposed by successful aging models and the precarious reality are discussed to identify those strategies that can build an accord between theory, policy and social reality.