Browsing by Author "Ekebom, Sofia"

Abstract In this Master’s thesis, five women, born between 1920 and 1955, are narrating their lives in their native language, Swedish. The informants describe their lives from childhood, motherhood, family relationships, household, to elderly care, and finally, concluding with the Finland-Swedish context to wrap up the interview session. The women were interviewed in a semi-structured manner, either in their homes if living independently, or in their own rooms if living in an elderly home. Some of the informants are strongly in favour of an increased nativity, whereas there also is ambivalence, because of the current societal atmosphere. The major societal improvements have been related to material resources and technological advances. The general opinion is that contemporary social interactions are rather weak; several informants mentioned how familial bonds nowadays are weaker than when they were younger. Older women have an ambivalent opinion regarding the treatment of elderly today, for instance mixed treatment of healthcare phone calls, or the treatment depending on the older person’s general health condition. The women also provided insight into how society has changed; for instance that men are more willing in today’s society to take an active role in regards to household chores, such as vacuum cleaning and cooking. This is a phenomenon that is observed amongst the women who have sons. However, there is an agreement that the grandchild situation is vastly different in contrast to their own, as the informants themselves were growing up.