Living Independently, Connected Socially: When the Children Are Gone: Navigating Aging and Autonomy Among Copenhagen’s Empty Nesters
(2025) TKAM02 20251Division of Ethnology
- Abstract
- This study explores how older adults in Copenhagen experience the transition into empty-nest life within the broader context of Denmark’s welfare system and cultural values. Using a mixed-method approach, including surveys, in-depth interviews, home visits and walk-along observations, the study investigates perceptions of the respondents concerning how Denmark’s strong welfare system, community engagement, and cultural emphasis on independence support empty nesters to maintain self-sufficiency while fostering meaningful social connections. Drawing on Hofstede’s cultural dimension of individualism, the research highlights how personal autonomy is both culturally endorsed and practically supported through public services and community... (More)
- This study explores how older adults in Copenhagen experience the transition into empty-nest life within the broader context of Denmark’s welfare system and cultural values. Using a mixed-method approach, including surveys, in-depth interviews, home visits and walk-along observations, the study investigates perceptions of the respondents concerning how Denmark’s strong welfare system, community engagement, and cultural emphasis on independence support empty nesters to maintain self-sufficiency while fostering meaningful social connections. Drawing on Hofstede’s cultural dimension of individualism, the research highlights how personal autonomy is both culturally endorsed and practically supported through public services and community infrastructures. Rather than experiencing aging as a period of decline or isolation, empty nesters in Copenhagen view it as a phase of self-directed adaptation, identity redefinition, and continued social relevance. The invisible presence of adult children subtly shapes how empty nesters navigate this life stage. Many expressed a sense of fulfilled parental duty, nostalgia for their children’s early years, and a quiet hope for continuing emotional connection, showing that the empty-nest stage often remains full of relational meaning. A key insight from the findings is the idea of “independence with interdependence”, a new way of understanding autonomy in later life that regards social connections and
community support, including subtle emotional ties with children, as parts of living
independently. This more flexible and relational view of independence moves beyond the simple dividing between being self-reliant and dependent, and helps us better understand how cultural values and social systems work together to shape how people experience empty-nest
phase in individualistic societies. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9206918
- author
- Tang, Lei LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- TKAM02 20251
- year
- 2025
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- Copenhagen, empty nesters, individualism, community support, autonomy.
- language
- English
- id
- 9206918
- date added to LUP
- 2025-07-14 13:03:34
- date last changed
- 2025-07-14 13:03:34
@misc{9206918,
abstract = {{This study explores how older adults in Copenhagen experience the transition into empty-nest life within the broader context of Denmark’s welfare system and cultural values. Using a mixed-method approach, including surveys, in-depth interviews, home visits and walk-along observations, the study investigates perceptions of the respondents concerning how Denmark’s strong welfare system, community engagement, and cultural emphasis on independence support empty nesters to maintain self-sufficiency while fostering meaningful social connections. Drawing on Hofstede’s cultural dimension of individualism, the research highlights how personal autonomy is both culturally endorsed and practically supported through public services and community infrastructures. Rather than experiencing aging as a period of decline or isolation, empty nesters in Copenhagen view it as a phase of self-directed adaptation, identity redefinition, and continued social relevance. The invisible presence of adult children subtly shapes how empty nesters navigate this life stage. Many expressed a sense of fulfilled parental duty, nostalgia for their children’s early years, and a quiet hope for continuing emotional connection, showing that the empty-nest stage often remains full of relational meaning. A key insight from the findings is the idea of “independence with interdependence”, a new way of understanding autonomy in later life that regards social connections and
community support, including subtle emotional ties with children, as parts of living
independently. This more flexible and relational view of independence moves beyond the simple dividing between being self-reliant and dependent, and helps us better understand how cultural values and social systems work together to shape how people experience empty-nest
phase in individualistic societies.}},
author = {{Tang, Lei}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Living Independently, Connected Socially: When the Children Are Gone: Navigating Aging and Autonomy Among Copenhagen’s Empty Nesters}},
year = {{2025}},
}