Doctoral Dissertation Research: Middle Class Participation in the Marketized Eldercare Industry

本博士论文研究项目科学地探讨了随着养老行业日益市场化，与退休期间住房和护理相关的行为和决策是如何发生变化的。以市场为基础的老年护理随着老龄化人口规模的持续增加而扩大，对以亲属为基础的护理网络的依赖下降，以及消费者行为中不断扩大的中产阶级导向推动了对老年护理服务选择的偏好。该项目关注的是第一代中产阶级退休人员的行为，旨在了解老年人的经历是如何通过向市场替代方案的过渡而改变的，远离了老年人住房和护理的亲属网络。除了培养研究生收集和分析科学数据的方法外，它还将为从事退休计划和老年护理管理领域的专业人员提供宝贵的材料。该项目还扩大了历史上在科学领域代表性不足的群体的参与。这位博士生通过对选择私有化老年护理的个人经历的研究，调查了在市场转型条件下，中产阶级身份在多大程度上影响了晚年生活中有关老年护理的决定。研究者将观察住在高端养老院的老年人的养老院行为、参观和护理实践。能够负担得起高端养老院的老年人将自己定位为中产阶级，并通过消费包括养老院在内的护理服务和商品来区分自己。本研究通过参与观察、半结构化访谈和个案研究等民族志研究，探讨市场化的照护产业、福利政策、各种选择和照护实践如何塑造中产阶级的老化经验。本研究将进一步科学地理解社会阶层、商业化与养老之间的关系。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This doctoral dissertation research project scientifically explores how behaviors and decisions related to housing and care during retirement are transforming as the eldercare industry becomes increasingly marketized. Market-based eldercare has expanded as the size of the aging population continues to increase, reliance on kin-based networks of care declines, and an expanding middle class orientation in consumer behavior has driven a preference for options in eldercare services. In focusing on the behaviors of a cohort first-generation middle-class retirees, the project aims to understand how older age experiences have been transformed by a transition to market-based alternatives and away from kin networks for older age housing and care. In addition to training a graduate student in methods of scientific data collection and analysis, it will also provide valuable material for professionals working in the fields of retirement planning and eldercare management. The project also broadens the participation of groups historically underrepresented in science. The doctoral student investigates the extent to which middle-class identity shapes decisions about eldercare in later life under conditions of market transformation, through an examination of the experiences of individuals who opt into privatized eldercare. The researcher will observe nursing home behaviors, tours, and care practices for older adults who live in a high-end nursing home. Older adults who can afford high-end nursing homes identify themselves as middle-class and distinguish themselves from others by consuming care services and goods including nursing homes. By conducting ethnographic research including participant observation, semi-structured interviews and case studies, this research asks how the marketized care industry, welfare policies, and all the choices and care practices shape the aging experience of the middle class. This research will further scientific understanding of the relationship between social class, commercialization, and eldercare.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.