How does low income affect older people’s travel practices? Findings of a qualitative case study on the links between financial poverty, mobility and social participation
- Financial poverty, mobility and social participation are interrelated. This nexus makes old-age poverty a highly relevant issue in terms of transport-related social exclusion in an ageing society. To understand how financial poverty affects older people’s travel practices and how they cope with their limited financial resources, we conducted qualitative interviews with low-income older people (aged 60 and above) in Ronnenberg (Hanover region, Germany). Although all the respondents have comparably limited financial resources, using a practice theory perspective along the elements of materials, competences and meanings (Shove et al., 2012), we identified three different types of low-income older people by their travel practices: (i) active older people with multifaceted social interactions, (ii) neighbourhood-oriented older people with local interactions and (iii) home-centred older people with few social interactions. From our analysis, we conclude that financial poverty shapes each element of low-income older people’s travel practices and thereby increases the risk of transport-related social exclusion: (i) certain materials have to be financed, which is challenging or even impossible due to financial poverty; (ii) meanings of travel practices are strongly linked to other practices, thus, if (also for financial reasons) no or a limited range of destinations are mentioned, travel practices are restricted in their frequency and distance; and (iii) necessary competences to be mobile and engage in social activities despite low financial means seem to be differentially available or - more cautiously formulated – less often utilised by low-income older people, which may lead to them abandoning travel practices and related social activities.
Author: | Caroline RozynekORCiDGND, Martin LanzendorfORCiDGND |
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URN: | urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:3-680786 |
DOI: | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tbs.2022.10.003 |
Parent Title (German): | Travel behaviour and society |
Publisher: | Elsevier |
Place of publication: | Amsterdam [u.a.] |
Document Type: | Article |
Language: | English |
Year of Completion: | 2023 |
Year of first Publication: | 2023 |
Publishing Institution: | Universitätsbibliothek Johann Christian Senckenberg |
Release Date: | 2023/02/16 |
Tag: | Financial poverty; Mobility; Practice theory; Transport affordability; Transport poverty; Transport-related social exclusion |
Volume: | 30 |
Page Number: | 13 |
First Page: | 312 |
Last Page: | 324 |
HeBIS-PPN: | 507187903 |
Institutes: | Geowissenschaften / Geographie / Geographie |
Dewey Decimal Classification: | 3 Sozialwissenschaften / 30 Sozialwissenschaften, Soziologie / 300 Sozialwissenschaften |
3 Sozialwissenschaften / 38 Handel, Kommunikation, Verkehr / 380 Handel, Kommunikation, Verkehr | |
Sammlungen: | Universitätspublikationen |
Licence (German): | Creative Commons - Namensnennung-Keine kommerzielle Nutzung-Weitergabe unter gleichen Bedingungen 4.0 |