Content and Objectives

In this context, "potential" includes both planned and already realised forms of formal and informal participation (such as prolonged labour force participation, civic engagement or family care work) as well as the resources available for this (e.g. health, education, income and wealth) and the underlying attitudes, intentions and life goals. There are still considerable gaps in research, particularly with regard to the realisation of activity intentions and the relevant opportunities and restrictions. The OPAL project contributes to closing these gaps with empirical analyses of secondary data.

The potential of older people plays a decisive role in shaping demographic change and for intergenerational cohesion. This makes the project highly relevant in socio-political terms. This will become increasingly important in the coming years as the baby boomers of the 1950s and 1960s reach retirement age. In this context, the health consequences of a prolonged working life are at the forefront alongside questions of prolonged labour force participation. The results of the "Transitions and Old Age Potential" study completed by the research group at the end of 2021 have already made it clear that the transition into retirement today can be equated less and less with the beginning of the old age phase of life, but rather places new demands on individuals and society. These demands are significant for the promotion of the potential of older people, as they can represent both opportunities and barriers. OPAL aims to further develop these questions both methodologically and conceptually and thus strengthens social and behavioural research on ageing as a key topic of Research Group 3.1 "Ageing and Ageing".

Empirical findings on the potential of older people from a national and international perspective can help to actively utilise the years gained in older adulthood both for the individual and for society and to improve the quality of life of all population groups. OPAL also benefits from many points of contact with other BiB research groups as well as with external project partners. For example, issues relating to the life situation of older migrants, which are to be dealt with more intensively in the OPAL project in future, overlap with other research areas at the BiB, as does the life course perspective. This is to be explored in greater depth in the course of the OPAL project. In particular, the aim is to analyse how critical life events in the life course (e.g. death of a partner or environmental influences in early phases of life such as air pollution) influence health and well-being in different phases of life.