Norwegian version

Ageing Research and Housing Studies

This research group is a department of the Norwegian Social Research (NOVA) and combines the best from two large research fields.

The ageing research studies social, behavioural and health developments in older adults living in Norway. Central fields in their studies are the civil society, labour marked, social network and family – which are the key domains of active ageing and relevant fields for policy advise for maintaining a sustainable welfare state. 

Our research on housing explores several topics: housing needs, housing demand, social inequality, mobility and life course events, contextual effects, and housing policy. The basic assumption is that housing plays a central role in people’s everyday life, but also in the production and reproduction of social inequality. 

Read about The Network for Ageing Research at OsloMet.

Head of research group

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  • Members

  • More about our research

    Our ageing research concentrate on opportunities for active ageing or exclusion from it, intergenerational support, retirement, formal and informal care, individual’s health and wellbeing and the social construction of inequalities therein, and on the consequences of an ageing population for the sustainability of the welfare state. The department is increasingly involved in international research projects, which opens up for new research on the influence of macro social factors such as culture and welfare state provisions. 

    Regarding our housing studies, a dividing line exists between ownership and renting, and between different birth cohorts’ access to housing during periods of varying economic and political conditions. Housing is an exceptional type of good, indivisibly linked to its geographical location, and likely to affect well-being and the distribution of economic resources. Effects on other spheres of life may be direct or indirect, i.e. housing will sometimes play a mediating role in relation to spheres such as education, work, family formation, and health. 

  • Projects

    Find more research projects at NOVA

  • Networks

    Members of the departments’ ageing research collaborate with research groups from universities across Europe, among which the Karolinska Institute, Swiss-centre of expertise in life course research-LIVES, University of Bucharest, Free University Amsterdam, Technical University Dortmund and the German Centre of Gerontology - DZA, and the University of Milano Bicocca.

    The department was further involved in a number of European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) actions, i.e. INTERFASOL - Intergenerational family solidarity across Europe (cost.eu), AGEISM - a multi-national, interdisciplinary perspective (cost.eu); and ROSENET Reducing Old-Age Social Exclusion: Collaborations in Research & Policy (rosenetcost.com).

    The departments’ housing studies group are active members of the international research organisation the European Network for Housing Research (ENHR). The annual research conferences arranged by ENHR has become an important venue for presentations of our ongoing research, but also for making new contacts with researchers for future collaboration. Lena Magnusson Turner is also member of the ENHR coordination committee.  

  • Publications

    • Gautun, H. & Bratt, C. (2023). Help and Care to Older Parents in the Digital Society. Nordic Journal of Working Life Studies
    • Kvæl, L.A.H. et al. (2023). Preference-based patient participation in intermediate care: Translation, validation and piloting of the 4Ps in Norway. Health Expectations
    • Aartsen, M. et al. (2023). Patterns and correlates of old-age social exclusion in the Balkan states. European Journal of Ageing
    • Solem, P.E. (2023). Older Workers and Work Exit Preferences in a Digitalized Working Life. Nordic Journal of Working Life Studies
    • Vasile, O. et al. (2023). Association Between Social Isolation and Mental Well-Being in Later Life. What is the Role of Loneliness? Applied Research in Quality of Life
    • Aarland, K. & Santiago, A.M. (2023). Serious Mortgage Arrears among Immigrant Descendant and Native Participants in a Low-Income Public Starter Mortgage Program: Evidence from Norway. Societies
    • Vangen, H. & Herlofson, K. (2023). Why care? How filial responsibility norms and relationship quality matter for subsequent provision of care to ageing parents. Ageing & Society
    • Sørvoll, J. (2023). Tenure Security and Positive Freedom in Social Housing. Tenants’ Subjective Experiences in the Ambiguous Case of Oslo. Housing, Theory and Society
    • Kvæl, L.A.H. & Gautun, H. (2023). Social inequality in navigating the healthcare maze: Care trajectories from hospital to home via intermediate care for older people in Norway. Social Science and Medicine
    • Galster, G.; Turner, L.M. & Santiago, A.M. (2022). Decomposing educational disparities between immigrants and natives in Oslo: how gender, parents, and place matter. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies

    Find more publications at the researchers’ employee pages.

Featured research

A son helps his old father pay bills online
Adult children increasingly help their elderly parents navigate the online world

New research from OsloMet reveals that adult children in Norway are more likely to help their elderly parents use the internet and their smart phone than with any other kind of task.

Two nursing home employees wearing face masks and visors.
Elderly care during the pandemic: Norway and Denmark stand out

Norway and Denmark stand out among the European countries. Both countries had few deaths, both among the population as a whole and in elderly care institutions.

Two children and their parents are relaxing in bed, and the kids are looking at a laptop computer.
Having children does not automatically result in a happier life

According to a study from OsloMet, having children does not increase quality of life, even in old age.

Older couple with bikes.
Old age and happiness: some common misconceptions

Are older people more likely to feel loneliness? Will having children make you happier when you get old? And are old men really as irritable as we think?