Reflections of a CHASM International Fellow

During my visit to the University of Birmingham in July 2019 I worked with Dr Louise Overton on a study addressing the impact of intergenerational financial transfers on the financial wellbeing of both donors and recipients. We spoke to 15 young adults (aged 25-40) and their older relatives (mostly parents) who provided financial assistance to help them to buy their first property. This research brought together my interest in young adulthood and the role of intergenerational support in young adults’ pathways into housing, and Dr Overton’s interest in financial planning and wellbeing in later life.

Although we remain in the early stages of data analysis, we are already uncovering a range of findings that have strong relevance to social policy, personal finances and equity concerns more generally. We are currently preparing a submission to the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) Intergenerational Differences discussion and a presentation for the 2019 Journal of Youth Studies conference, and will co-author two journal articles. Additionally, Dr Overton has joined the ‘Youth, Intergenerational Dynamics and the Future’ stream of the newly formed University of Newcastle Youth Studies Network, providing a framework for future collaboration.   It was all is all a very enjoyable, productive and fruitful visit!

I thoroughly enjoyed my time at the University of Birmingham, as a CHASM International Research Fellow. This program allowed me to visit the university for around three weeks to undertake research-related activities and work collegially with academic professionals in my specialism.  I appreciated every aspect of my work within CHASM. I was lucky to have access to resources and interactions with experts from multi-disciplinary fields. The most enjoyable part of the visit was working with a great team. Alongside my collaborator, Professor Karen Rowlingson, I conducted research about financial capability and financial inclusion in the Southeast Asia. Having face-to-face meetings, fruitful discussions and brainstorming my ideas, I found the work environment to be inspiring and motivating. It gave me a lot of useful knowledge and experience and I was able to build many connections through networking.

During my visit, I presented a paper for a CHASM seminar.  The topic was based on the current state of financial capability in Southeast Asia.  I also had the opportunity to attend several related academic conferences which took place in London and Birmingham. Overall I felt the visit was very productive. Professor Rowlingson and I produced a draft manuscript on financial capability and financial inclusion in the Southeast Asia. We plan to publish the paper in a well-respected journal, present our findings at relevant conferences, conduct a further research in the field of financial inclusion, and build a strong network among scholars in the related field both in the UK and in Southeast Asia.

During my CHASM International Fellowship, I worked with Dr. Louise Overton on developing a research project focused on the social care policy discourses surrounding aging-in-place, homeownership and individual responsibility in England and the Netherlands, over the last two decades. In the two weeks in Birmingham, Dr. Overton and I aligned our thinking on the topic, outlining the institutional and policy differences and similarities between the two countries, devised a data collection and analysis strategy, and collected policy documents.

Though our project is in the initial phases, and the bulk of the analysis is still to be conducted, we anticipate that our research will make a significant contribution to the literature on the financialisation of later life, in particular to how notions of responsibilisation have been gradually implemented in the social care policy field. In the next period Dr. Overton and I will work independently on the analysis of policy documents, and connect regularly to reassess our main assumptions, concepts, and lines of thought. Our aim is to produce one internationally peer-reviewed journal article in the next six months. Furthermore, Dr. Overton and I have made plans to work toward a special issue proposal for which we will organize a dedicated panel at the ENHR 2020 Conference, as well as a collaborative grant proposal, in the next year.

Apart from the work I conducted with Dr. Overton, the CHASM International Fellowship has been an opportunity for me to re-connect with Profs. John Doling and Karen Rowlingson, who supported my PhD research in Birmingham and with whom I discussed potential opportunities for collaboration, as well as form new acquaintances, such as Ms. Hannah Bailey whose research on social housing in the Netherlands falls in my direct line of interest.