Geography, meeting contexts and intergenerational network contacts

Abstract

It is an established research finding that the social composition of personal networks tends to be disproportionally homogeneous, amongst others in terms of age. Who has – besides family ties – personal relationships that cross generations? Low levels, or even a lack of intergenerational network contacts, however, may imply a (strict) social division of generations, with various negative consequences, including lower levels of social capital and little solidarity. In this contribution, I aim to describe and explain variations (between individuals and places) in the level of extrafamilial intergenerational network contacts in the Netherlands, with a particular focus on geographical and contextual factors, including regional differences, urban-rural differences and social and physical meeting contexts. I will use data from the Survey on the Social Networks of the Dutch.