Social class structure and identity in later life

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to discuss the elusive character of social class in ageing studies. Whilst for many gerontologists social class no longer represents a salient marker of social difference in later life, critical gerontologists continue to stress its crucial in determining how people experience retirement and the quality of lives they lead. This article reports upon an empirical study on class structures and identities in later life carried out in Malta. Qualitative data highlight three key classes inhabited by older people in Malta - namely the working class, the middle class, and the dominant class. Results also demonstrate clearly that subjects held distinct class identities, albeit more along ‘cultural’ lines of distinction rather than economic formations. This article demonstrates that although older persons no longer spontaneously and unambiguously use the language of class, they do not constitute thoroughly individualised beings who fly completely free of class relations.