Social foundations of divorce in old age

Purpose: to find out the main reasons for divorce in old age, to assess social perception of certain situations that lead to divorce, to trace the development later in life after the divorce of former spouse. Methodology: qualitative research on how to "double reflection" in formal means of semi-structured interviews; discourse analysis of online documents on the Internet forums for the elderly. Results: allocated substantial characteristics of divorce in the third age. 1. The causes of divorce in older age, alcoholism, adultery, fake divorce, divorce due to the illness of a spouse, divorce is a consequence of the crisis of retirement. 2. Social approval/ condemnation of divorce in the third age - the examples cited in the study is an indicator of gender inequality. 3. The trajectories of the spouses later in life - "The effect of the return of" the wandering behavior, a new life, a divorce after the divorce. Practical implications - the creation of special courses on social gerontology for students of social and humanitarian disciplines, gerontologists, social workers, as well as the use of programs of socio-psychological training for the elderly