Abstract

The old age stops being a synonym of weakness and a source of shame - it is pervasive and en- trenched in our society, the media, and science. Dynamic growth of the number of the elderly, observed globally, has alarmed demographers, economists, and politicians. The scientists have engaged in advance studies of the ageing process to deepen our understanding of its nature and gain further insights into its hallmarks. The entrepreneurs have revised their attitudes toward senior-customers, and they have cre- ated totally fresh offer for goods and services targeted at the „50+” group. The employees of health and welfare sectors have met an urgent need to bring about a sustained realignment of the whole system of benefits for the elderly, as currently the welfare eligibility and benefits remain far beyond the institutional capacity to cope. Although the traditional view of old age has been questioned, still the elderly them- selves must start to value it; without their empowering the old age and learning the active ageing, the shift to positive ageing will never be achieved. The paper discusses the results of the empirical studies of the notion of subjectivity of Polish senior citizens conducted independently between 2001 and 2003 as well as 2008 and 2010. The gathered data prove the decrease of the self-author personality. This result corresponds with unfavorable position of the elderly who face many obstacles and inequities in public space, in particular in the health and social welfare. Simultaneously, the society and the culture manifest certain favorable changes within the field of lifelong learning; they enable the elderly to undertake em- powering activities (e.g. voluntary work; learning at third age university) that stimulate their personal growth, subjectivity and self-development. And although some anticipate a positive outcome from the implementation of the subjectification of the old age, the need to conduct further studies is obvious.