PARTNERSHIP FORMED IN LATER LIFE - PROCESSES OF TRANSFORMATION OF INTIMACY AND GROWING HETEROGENEITY OF PARTNERSHIP LIFE

Most of the studies discussing intimate life and partnership strategies tend to focus on the young and middle generations. Intimate relationships in later stages of life are, however, often marginalized and the role of the older generations in the growing level of heterogeneity of family patterns and practices is mostly being ignored. This paper drew our attention also to the partnership life of older generations. It discusses how the current processes of transformation of intimacy, family and partnership life (with particular focus on the high divorce rate and growing number of,alternative" partnership unions) may impact on older generations and how they may influence life in old age and the experience of ageing. The paper stresses the need to analyse the partnership formed in later life with respect to the changing conceptualization of intimacy and gender relations. The aim of this study is to map the specific dynamics of establishing a new intimate relationship in later life. It proposes the perspective of life-course (Elder, 1994) as a suitable analytical-methodological tool for the study of patterns of partnership life and trajectories of forming new relationship (not only) in later life.