Financialization of Old Age

Presentation of a research project as part of the "Jeudis de la Maison Suger", a residents' research seminar.

This session will welcome Jorgemar Felix for a comparative reflection on the over-indebtedness of older people in Brazil and France, linked to care issues and public policies.

Presentation of the project

"Highly aged societies are also characterized by over-indebtedness, a consequence of the financialized capitalist model of the 21st century. In both Brazil and France, the indebtedness of elderly individuals has reached persistently high levels. Women, traditionally responsible for caregiving, are more vulnerable to over-indebtedness than men. The objective of this research is to establish comparisons to identify ways in which the state could mitigate the risk of over-indebtedness among elderly women. This study relies on a qualitative understanding of the causes of credit contraction and, more importantly, seeks to uncover the role of caregiving in situations of over-indebtedness. The findings are expected to be relevant for the establishment or improvement of a National Care Policy (Law No. 15.069/2024), recently enacted in Brazil, and/or initiatives for debt renegotiation among the population, such as the official program Desenrola Brasil."

Speaker

Jorgemar Felix holds a PhD in Sociology and a Master’s degree in Political Economy from the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo. He is a professor of Economics at the postgraduate level in Gerontology at the University of São Paulo (School of Arts, Sciences and Humanities – EACH) and a member of the CuiDDe – Care, Rights and Inequalities research network at the Brazilian Centre for Analysis and Planning (Cebrap). His postdoctoral research is based at the State University of Campinas (Unicamp), within PAGU – the Centre for Gender Studies.