Jean-François Bickel

Aging and Cohort Changes in Sports and Physical Training from the Golden Decades Onward: A Cohort Study in Switzerland

Abstract For most analysts, the Golden Decades (roughly 1950–1980) mark a period of far-reaching change – both structural and cultural – in Western societies. In an attempt to link the macro, societal transformation with individual behavior, the authors elaborate the “context-and-cohort-change” paradigm (as opposed to the “age-related-decline” paradigm), according to which they scrutinize the participation in sports and physical training at two stages (mid-life, third age) of adult life of the members of two cohorts (C1, born 1905–1914, N = 1012; C2, born 1920–1929, N = 661). The results show (a) a robust intercohort increase in the rate of exercisers from C1 to C2; (b) no significant longitudinal decline in participation from midlife to third age, either in C1 or in C2, but a high rate of turnover among exercisers, with “late exercisers” filling the gaps left by the “dropouts”; (c) changes in the sociodemographic composition of exercisers, reflecting a move away from the pattern in which sports and physical exercise were mostly a male, urban, and upperclass activity, to another, much more generalized and democratic pattern.

The Elderly and their Families, 1979-94: Changing Networks and Relationships

This article analyses the changes occurring in the structure of the family network of older people and their family interactions over a 15-year period. Data are from two Swiss cross-sectional surveys carried out on a random sample of people aged 65-94 years, in 1979 (N = 1519) and 1994 (N = 1447). Both were conducted in two specific regions, namely, the Alpine canton of Valais, steeped in a rural tradition, and the city-canton of Geneva. Our results show a widening of the family circle due to increased life expectancy and a sharp drop in the number of childless families in the urban region because of the baby boom; at the same time, family ties multiplied, contrary to the widely held view that family relationships are weakening. Furthermore, while in 1979 each region had its own specific family culture, an alignment of family structures and relationships in the two regions took place over the 15-year period. Finally, an analysis of the instrumental support relationships based on the 1994 survey reveals the strong involvement of the elderly in their families.