Living Arrangements, Socio-Economic Position and Well-Being in Old Age – a Regional Perspective in Europe

Luule Sakkeus , Estonian Insitute for Population Studies, Tallinn University
Liili Abuladze, Tallinn University

Living alone in old age has become a mainstream phenomenon in Europe. Often, people living alone have the worse health and well-being outcomes compared to people living in other arrangements. However, regional differences within Europe indicate that living alone may not have negative implications everywhere. Here, we study the associations between well-being and living arrangements in old age by different European regions, taking into account childhood and adulthood socio-economic positions of individuals. We use data from the SHARE wave 7 (2017), analysing over 48,000 individuals from 26 countries aged 65 and above. Our outcome of interest is well-being, based on the CASP-12 instrument. The main independent variable is the living arrangement type: living alone, in a couple, couple with others, or living with others. At the European level, living as a couple is positively associated with well-being, followed by couples living with others. Southern Europe and Baltics fare worst in well-being. After accounting for the childhood and adulthood socio-economic positions, the associations change. Worse socio-economic life time position makes living in a couple with others most beneficial regarding well-being, followed by those living as a couple. Also those living with others indicate a positive association with well-being. Worse childhood and adulthood economic positions change the regional differences in this association: Southern Europe has the worse well-being, South Eastern Europe do not differ anymore from the Baltics, while Central Eastern Europe fares better, and the Nordic and Western European countries still have the best well-being.

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 Presented in Session 12. Well-being, Living Arrangements and Satisfaction among Older People