Importance and Significance of Post-Occupational Activities for People in Their Third Stage of Life Who Life in Rural Areas 2003

Determining the importance and significance of post-occupational activities for people in their third stage of life who life in rural areas was in the foreground of this project. The definition of a person in their third stage of life was a person who is not in need of care, between 60 and 80 years old and who lives in a private household. The rural area was limited to twelve Upper Austrian towns with a number of inhabitants from 501 to 3,000 (grouped according to the 4 neighbourhoods of Upper Austria).Since the spectrum of post-occupational activities was widespread a typology for post-occupational fields of activity was needed. These fields were:->o activities that are closely linked to the labour market versus those that are not->o productive, social caring activities versus consumptive, ego-centred activities->o public versus private activities General activities (daily chores), chosen extracurricular activities such as sports and consumptive cultural activities were looked at closely to gain a comprehensive insight in post-occupational field of activity.The productive fields of activity in the broader sense can be circumscribed with the term civil social involvement and contain honorary involvement as well as informal help. The surveys that have been conducted up to now on the topic of honorary involvement and its significance for society usually put the emphasis on organised volunteer charity work. Therefore, we thought it important to include help and social involvement which was informal and not organised. We believe that otherwise, elderly peoples contribution to society would be underestimated. Especially informal and unorganised fields of activity shed light on elderly peoples level of integration and participation in society.->gesellschaftlichen Integrations- und Partizipationsgrad älterer Menschen.

本项目的核心研究目标为探究退休后活动（post-occupational activities）对居住于农村地区的第三人生阶段人群的重要性与意义。本项目中，第三人生阶段人群的定义为：年龄介于60至80岁之间、无需他人照料且居住于私人家庭中的个体。本次研究限定的农村研究区域为奥地利上奥地利州的12个城镇，其人口规模介于501至3000人之间（按上奥地利州的4个邻里片区进行分组）。
鉴于退休后活动的范畴极为广泛，因此有必要对退休后活动领域开展类型学划分。本次划分的活动领域包括：
1. 与劳动力市场紧密关联的活动，与脱离劳动力市场的活动；
2. 生产性、社会关怀类活动，与消费性、自我中心导向的活动；
3. 公共活动与私人活动。
研究团队对日常家务等基础活动、体育锻炼等自选业余活动，以及消费型文化活动进行了细致调研，以期全面洞悉退休后活动领域的整体图景。广义上的生产性活动领域可界定为公民社会参与范畴，涵盖志愿参与活动与非正式帮扶活动两类。迄今为止，针对志愿参与及其社会意义的相关调研，通常将研究重点聚焦于有组织的志愿慈善工作。因此，本研究认为纳入非正式、无组织的帮扶与社会参与活动至关重要。我们认为，若缺失这部分内容，老年群体对社会的贡献将被严重低估。尤其是非正式且无组织的活动领域，能够清晰展现老年群体的社会融入与社会参与程度。