Abstract

CUNHA, Ubiracelma Carneiro da  and  DIAS, Cristina Maria de Souza Brito. The recohabiation of children and grandchildren in the perspective of elderly family heads. Contextos Clínic [online]. 2019, vol.12, n.2, pp. 599-616. ISSN 1983-3482.  http://dx.doi.org/10.4013/ctc.2019.122.10.

The significant increase of the elderly population in Brazil and in the world has led to changes in the structure and dynamics of families, such as the growth of households with three or more cohabitating generations. Regarding such context, this study aimed to understand how elderly grandmothers, who reside in multigenerational households, experience and perceive the situation of recohabitation, resulting from the return of their children. Nine elderly grandmothers participated in this qualitative research, and answered a socio-demographic questionnaire and a semi-structured interview. The interview was recorded, transcribed, and later analysed according to the thematic content analysis technique. The results indicated that: the main reason for recohabitation was the separation or divorce of the children; most of the elderly felt satisfaction and conformity with the recohabitation, due to the idea that a mother should always welcome her children and grandchildren; recohabitation caused changes, both in the physical structure of the house and in the daily life of the elderly, adding domestic tasks and commitments with the care of the grandchildren; the majority of the participants considered themselves the person who establishes the norms of home functioning. In general, we noticed that these elderly women had ambivalent feelings about cohabitation; some felt happy with the company of the children and grandchildren, but others showed tiredness and even revolt due to the overload of domestic work.

Keywords : elderly; relationship between generations; multigenerational households.

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