Older Persons in Rural Areas: An Approach to the Role They Play in a “Desagrarizada” Society of Southern Europe
Marcelo Sánchez-Oro Sánchez, Rocío Blanco Gregory

Abstract
In the context of the changes in first world country societies, the aging of population, apart from being a “burden” for budgets, it tends to be seen as a social drama in terms of productivity. However, the prolongation of activity, in a direct or indirect way, clandestine or by means of being a helping hand for the family, is an irrefutable fact. This article aims to expose, through a comparative analysis between the elderly from rural and urban areas, some elements which constitute most of the usual concerns of those whose age surpasses 65 years, a segment of the population which is to have an increasing importance in postindustrial societies. This article studies aspects such as those linked to the sense of usefulness, contribution to society in these not so productive years, as well as their perception of their quality of life. The last aim is to consider whether the dissolution of the rural-urban continuum is also a factor for the elderly. For this research, we resorted to the exploitation of the data provided by a survey done by 540 senior people from both urban and rural environments in Extremadura.

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