PhD Position: Intersectionality and Informal Caregiving in Later Life

VU Hoofdgebouw

Amsterdam

0.8 / 1

Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities

PhD

MSc

Closes on

18-03-2026

Publishing date

18-02-2026

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Do you want to investigate how informal care can remain sustainable in ageing societies? Apply for a PhD position in Sociology at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

Your function

Population ageing and declining fertility rates pose major challenges for the sustainability and organization of long-term care systems across Europe. In the Netherlands, as in many other countries, policy reforms have increasingly shifted long-term care away from institutional settings toward “ageing in place,” relying heavily on informal care provided by family members, friends, and other close contacts. While this approach allows older adults to remain in familiar environments, it also places growing demands on informal caregivers and raises important questions about inequality in caregiver stress and wellbeing.

Extensive research shows that informal caregiving and its consequences are unequally distributed. Women are more likely to provide care and report higher levels of burden; individuals with a lower socioeconomic position more often provide intensive care and experience heightened stress; and people with a migration background may face particular strains when combining caregiving with work and family responsibilities. However, much remains unknown about how these social categories of inequality intersect.

This PhD project adopts an explicitly intersectional perspective to examine how gender, socioeconomic position, and migration background jointly shape informal caregiving and positive and negative caregiver outcomes.

Methodologically, the project combines quantitative and qualitative approaches and builds on high-quality Dutch data sources. The PhD candidate will conduct multiple empirical studies examining intersections in caregiving participation and outcomes.

We in particular invite candidates who are interested or experienced in intersectional analysis, have an affinity with quantitative research methods, affinity with or an interest in qualitative research methods and are passionate about doing research.

All PhD candidates of the School of Social Sciences will be enrolled in the Graduate School of Social Sciences (VU-GSSS) and admission to the VU-GSSS is part of the hiring procedure. More details can be found on their website and are available upon request.

Your tasks

gaining in-depth knowledge on theoretical and methodological literature on intersectionality and care
you design, together with your supervisors, various components of your research, including literature reviews, data-analysis plans and research papers
preparing data from existing population surveys, like the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam (LASA) (www.lasa-vu.nl)
carrying out quantitative statistical and qualitative thematic analyses
present your research at academic conferences and workshops, and to societal partners
publishing in international academic peer reviewed journals and finish a PhD-thesis
joining and actively contribute to meetings and gatherings of the Social Context of Aging group at the VU (https://vu.nl/nl/over-de-vu/meer-over/the-social-context-of-aging-soca ) ,the LASA research team in the Amsterdam UMC and the Department of Sociology
you take relevant courses within and outside the Graduate School for Social Sciences to meet the requirements for obtaining a PhD
you assist in teaching in the bachelor program of Sociology (0,10 yearly)

Your profile

This position is a good fit for you if you have:

a (Research) Master’s degree in Social Sciences, Health Sciences or a related field
excellent study results and academic skills
solid knowledge of and experiences with conducting quantitative research methods and different statistical methods; experience with longitudinal datasets and intersectionality methodology is a plus
experience with conducting qualitative research methods is a plus
substantive interest in social gerontology and caregiving research
previous experiences with doing empirical research, during internships, research assistance or junior positions
ability to work independently, willingness to collaborate with other team members
a strong sense of responsibility for scientific integrity
excellent command of English (C1). Command of Dutch language is a plus

What do we offer?

A challenging position in a socially engaged organisation. At VU Amsterdam, you contribute to education, research and service for a better world. And that is valuable. So in return for your efforts, we offer you:

a salary of € 3.059,00 (PhD) and maximum € 3.881,00 (PhD) gross per month in the fourth year, for a full-time employment
an employment contract of initially 1 year. If there is sufficient perspective, this will be extended to a total of 4 years. Your dissertation at the end of the fourth year forms the end of your employment contract

We also offer you attractive fringe benefits and arrangements. Some examples:

a full-time 38-hour working week comes with a holiday leave entitlement of 232 hours per year. If you choose to work 40 hours, you have 96 extra holiday leave hours on an annual basis. For part-timers, this is calculated pro rata
8% holiday allowance and 8.3% end-of-year bonus
solid pension scheme (ABP)
contribution to commuting expenses
a wide range of sports facilities which staff may use at a modest charge

About us

About the department
The Department of Sociology is a vibrant and international community of dedicated researchers and teachers specializing in contemporary societal development such as globalization, modernization, individualization, and multiculturalism—and their impact on cohesion, inequality, and identity. It offers Bachelor's, Master's, and Pre-master Sociology programs (in Dutch) and provides methodology courses for other Social Sciences programs. Research focuses on five themes under the Participation in Society (PARIS) program. Both research and education are carried out in collaboration with societal partners to maximize impact.

You will join the research group “Social Context of Aging,” one of the five core research themes within the Department of Sociology. In addition, you will contribute to the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam, a multidisciplinary cohort study conducted in close collaboration with Sociology and researchers from the Faculty of Science (Department of Health Sciences) and the Faculty of Medicine (Departments of Epidemiology & Data Science and Psychiatry).

Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities

A better understanding of ourselves and social communities, values and meaning, through social sciences and humanities. That is the aim of The Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities. No single discipline can do this alone. The SSH disciplines are characterised by an open way of thinking and the natural urge to seek coherence and connection.

The faculty consists of nine academic departments within three schools: School of Religion & Theology (SRT), School of Social Sciences (SSc) and School of Humanities (SH).

Are you interested in joining Social Sciences and Humanities? You become part of a dynamic academic community with approximately 900 staff members, over 5,000 regular students and more than 5,000 course participants. In an inspiring and collegial environment, we work together on education and research with impact.

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam stands for values-driven education and research. We are open-minded experts with the ability to think freely - a broader mind. Maintaining an entrepreneurial perspective and concentrating on diversity, significance and humanity, we work on sustainable solutions with social impact. By joining forces, across the boundaries of disciplines, we work towards a better world for people and planet. Together we create a safe and respectful working and study climate, and an inspiring environment for education and research. Learn more about our codes of conduct

We are located on one physical campus, in the heart of Amsterdam's Zuidas business district, with excellent location and accessibility. Over 6,150 staff work at the VU and over 31,000 students attend academic education.

Diversity
Diversity is the driving force of VU Amsterdam. VU wants to be accessible and receptive to diversity in disciplines, cultures, ideas, nationalities, beliefs, preferences and worldviews. We believe that trust, respect, interest and differences lead to new insights and innovation, to sharpness and clarity, to excellence and a broader understanding.

We stand for an inclusive community and believe that diversity and internationalisation contribute to the quality of education, research and our services.

Therefore, we are always searching for people whose backgrounds and experience contribute to the diversity of the VU community.

Interested

Are you interested in this position and do you believe that your experience will contribute to the further development of our university? In that case, we encourage you to submit your application. We require:

an academic CV: Please include your language skills in English
a motivation letter
a writing sample, for instance a chapter of your MA thesis

Submitting a diploma and a reference check are part of the application process.

Applications received by e-mail will not be considered.

Acquisition in response to this advertisement is not appreciated.