Poverty in Later Life in Rural Switzerland and the U.S.: A Comparative Case Study

While poverty is an economic and social status, it is also an experience. This research project, that will take place in two rural and mountainous regions of Switzerland and the U.S., seeks to understand the experience of poorer older people in such contexts. Existing literature shows that there are significant levels of poverty among older people in Switzerland and the U.S. National welfare states, in combination with advantages and disadvantages accumulated over the life courses, and statuses such as gender and ethnicity, shape the types of economic deprivation that older people can face. In addition, support from private and public organizations (here after 'social organizations') and the social environment (family, neighbors, and friends) is often critical for older populations--something that the recent pandemic has greatly brought to light. Some authors additionally point to the influence of the geographic environment on the living conditions of older people. However, existing analyses give little attention to the experiences that poorer older people have of poverty, particularly in rural areas. And yet, poorer older people's experiential knowledge, i.e., knowledge they acquired by experiencing poverty themselves, could contribute to a better understanding of poverty in later life in rural context, and of what could improve poorer older people's lives. The present research project addresses these gaps by exploring the experience of poverty among older people living in the Swiss alpine canton of Valais and the Appalachian region of Virginia in the U.S. These regions represent interesting settings for our purpose as they are both economically deprived areas within rich countries, they are located in rural and mountainous territories, and the percentage of older people in these areas is high compared to the national average. At the same time, they differ on one major aspect: old age and health welfare policies are more generous in Switzerland than in the U.S. Our research is based on qualitative semi-structured interviews with 70 poorer older people. It explores the economic and social constraints and resources that shape these people's living conditions in these areas. By doing so, based on interviewees' experiential knowledge, it seeks to provide a better understanding of the influence of welfare states, social organizations, the social environment, and life course major events on deprived older people's living conditions in rural areas. It will also pay attention to the role of social statuses (particularly gender and ethnicity) in such contexts. While this research project is not about the Covid-19 pandemic, it will take place in a post-pandemic world, and the social and economic impacts of the Covid-19 crisis will likely shape the results.This research project will provide us with an in-depth and broad understanding of the constraints and the resources that shape the experience of poverty in later life in rural contexts and bring to light forms of poverty that may not appear in existing statistics. The results will bring new knowledge about how poorer older people deal with their situation, and give the possibility to compare policies, programs and services that work for them--or do not work so well, some of which may be inspiring for other similar contexts. It will also suggest new ways of better supporting people experiencing economic deprivation in later life, in such areas as Valais and the Appalachian region of Virginia, and elsewhere.