Networks Through The Life Course

How do our networks change through the life course? We do know from research that networks seem to shrink if we become older. Given that most people also work less and become less active at higher ages this is a plausible finding. We do not know, however, whether and how relationships change in quality and in the social capital they provide. Maybe, high quality contacts compensate for decrease in quantity. This implies that social resources do not change through the life course; they rather might grow in value. This project studies these changes in relationships and resources for different social categories and through the life course. Networks might not change in the same way for everybody, e.g., men and women, high and lower educated might differ in this regard.