Family Situation, Social Protection, and Well-being of Older Adults from an European Comparative Perspective

Authors

  • Almudena Moreno Universidad de Valladolid
  • Juan Antonio Vicente-Virseda Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia

https://doi.org/10.17583/rasp.2016.2048

Keywords:


Abstract

The aim of this research is therefore to analyse the well-being of people over 65 living in multi-generational households, compared to those who live in their own home, either with a partner or alone. The analysis takes a comparative approach, and seeks to analyse and unravel the differences between countries in terms of the subjective well-being of this segment according to the type of household they live in, against a backdrop of the framework of the welfare state, social policies on dependent care, and family models. The methodology used in this comparative approach consists of applying association analyses based on “decision trees”. The data source used is the European Quality of Life Survey, 2011-2012. The findings show that live in multigenerational households is inversely related to the perception of well-being and quality of life in the group of people over 65 years in the countries of southern Europe. Indeed the results suggest that the social policies implemented by welfare States can satisfactorily contribute to the well-being and quality of life of these groups in the same or greater measure as family solidarity, as evidenced by the results obtained for Nordic countries.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biography

Almudena Moreno, Universidad de Valladolid

Universidad de Valladolid

Departamento de Sociología y Trabajo Social

Doctora en Sociología por la Universidad Autonoma de Barcelona.

Profesora Titular de la Universidad de Valladolid

References

Aranda, L. (2013). Doubling up: a gift or a same?. Multigenerational household and parental depression of older Europeans, Venice: Department of Economics. University of Venice.

Google Scholar Crossref

Alburquerque, P. C. (2011). Grandparents in multigenerational households: The case of Portugal. European Journal of Ageing, 8, 189-198.

Google Scholar Crossref

Aquilino, W. S. (1990). The likelihood of parent-adult child coresidence: Effects of family structure and parental characteristics. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 52, 405- 419.

Google Scholar Crossref

Bengston, V. L. (2001). Beyond the nuclear family: the increasing importance of multigenerational relationships in American society. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 63, 1-16.

Google Scholar Crossref

Bettio, F., Simonazzi, A., & Villa, P. (2006). Change in care regimes and female migration: The ‘care drain’ in the Mediterranean. Journal of European Social Policy, 16, 271–285.

Google Scholar Crossref

Bowling, A. (1997). Measuring health: A review of quality of life measurement scales. Buckingham: Open University Press.

Google Scholar Crossref

Calzada, I. (2013) The Myth of Mediterranean Familism: family values, family structure and public preferences for state intervention in care, European Societies, 15 (4), 514-534.

Google Scholar Crossref

Carrascosa, L. y Sancho, M. T. (2013). Formas de convivencia, relaciones entre personas y la experiencia de envejecer. En: Díaz Martín, Rosa. Las personas mayores en España: Informe 2010. Madrid: Ministerio de Trabajo y Asuntos Sociales, IMSERSO.

Google Scholar Crossref

Casper, L. M. & Bryson, K. R. (1998). Co-resident grandparents and their grandchildren: Grandprent maintained families. Working paper, 26 Washington, D.C.: Population Division, U.S. Bureau of the Census.

Google Scholar Crossref

CDC. (2013). Quality of life. Centers for disease control and prevention. Georgia: Atlanta.

Google Scholar Crossref

Connell, J., Brazier, J.,O’Cathain, A., Lloyd-Jones,M.,&Paisley, S. (2012). Quality of life of people with mental health problems: a synthesis of qualitative research. Health and Quality of Life Outcomes, 10(138), 1–16.

Google Scholar Crossref

Daatland, S. O. & Herlofson, K. (2003). ‘Lost solidarity’ or ‘changed solidarity’: a comparative European view of normative family solidarity. Ageing & Society, 23, 537–560.

Google Scholar Crossref

Daatland, S. O. (1997). Welfare policies for older people in transition? Emerging trends and comparative perspectives. International Journal of Social Welfare, 6(3), 153–161.

Google Scholar Crossref

Deaton A. (2008) Income, health, and well-being around the world: evidence from the Gallup World Poll. J Econ Perspect 2008; 22: 53–72.

Google Scholar Crossref

Diener, E. (2009). The Evolving Concept of Subjective Well-Being: The Multifaceted Nature of Happiness, Assessing Well-Being. Social Indicators Research Series, 39, 67-100

Google Scholar Crossref

Dolan, P., Peasgood, T., & White, M. (2008). Do we really know what makes us happy? A review of the economic literature on the factors associated with subjective well-being. Journal of Economic Psychology, 29, 94–122.

Google Scholar Crossref

Erlinghagen, M., & Hank, K. (2006). The participation of older Europeans in volunteer work. Ageing & Society, 26, 567–584.

Google Scholar Crossref

Esping-Andersen, G. (1990). The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism. Cambridge: Policy Press.

Google Scholar Crossref

Esping-Andersen, G. (1999). Social foundations of postindustrial economies. Oxford: University Press Oxford

Google Scholar Crossref

Eurofound (2014). Quality of Life in Europe: Families in the economic crisis, Louxemburg: European Union.

Google Scholar Crossref

Ferrera, M. (1996). The 'Southern Model' of Welfare in Social Europe, Journal of European Social Policy, 6 (1), 17-37.

Google Scholar Crossref

Fernández-Ballesteros, R. (2002). Social support and quality of life among older people in Spain. Journal of Social Issues, 58, 645–661.

Google Scholar Crossref

Fokema, T. & Liefbroer, A. (2008). Trends in living arrangements in Europe: Convergence or divergence?, Demographic Research, 19, 1351-1418.

Google Scholar Crossref

Haberkern, K., & Szydlik, M. (2010). State care provision, societal opinion and children’s care of older parents in 11 European countries. Ageing & Society, 30, 299–323.

Google Scholar Crossref

Hafiz T. A. Khan & Robert Raeside (2014). Between Country Variations in Self-Rated-Health and Associations with the Quality of Life of Older People: Evidence from the Global Ageing Survey, Applied Research Quality Life, 9, 923–949.

Google Scholar Crossref

Hagestad D. (2006). Transfers between grandparents and grandchildren: Theimportance of taking a three-generation persepctive. Zeitschrift Fur Familienforschung, 18, 315-332.

Google Scholar Crossref

Hammel, E.A. & Laslett, P. (1974). Comparing household structure over time and between cultures. Comparative Studies in Society and History 16(1), 73-109

Google Scholar Crossref

Hank, K. & Buber, I. (2009). Grandparents Caring for Their Grandchildren Findings From the 2004 Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe. Journal of Family Issues, 30, 53-73.

Google Scholar Crossref

Hantrais, L., Philipov, D. & Billari, F.C. (2006). Policy implications of changing family formation. Population Studies 49. Strasbourg: Council of Europe Publishing.

Google Scholar Crossref

Harrell, R., Kassner, e. & Figueiredo, C. (2011). Multigenerational households are increasing. Washington, D.C.: AARP Public Policy Institute.

Google Scholar Crossref

Iacovou, M. & Skew, A. (2011). Household composition across the new Europe: Where do the new Member States fit in?, Demographic Research, 25, (1),465-490

Google Scholar Crossref

Inglehart, R. (ed.) (2003). Human values and social change , Leiden-Boston: Brill.

Google Scholar Crossref

Inglehart, T. & Welzel, Ch. (2005). Modernization, Cultural Change, and Democracy: The Human Development Sequence, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Google Scholar Crossref

Kahn, Joan R., Frances Goldscheider, & Garcia-Manglano, J. (2013). Growing Parental Economic Power in Parent-Adult Child Households: Coresidence and Financial Dependency in the United States, 1960-2010. Demography, 50, 449-75. http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13524-013-0196-2

Google Scholar Crossref

Kalmijn, M., & Saraceno, C. (2008). A comparative perspective on intergenerational support—Responsiveness to parental needs in individualistic and familialistic countries. European Societies, 10, 479–508.

Google Scholar Crossref

Kaneda, T., Lee, M. & Pollard, K. (2011). SCL/PRB Index of Well-Being in Older Populations, Final Report, Global Aging and Monitoring Project, The Stanford Center on Longevity and the Population Reference Bureau

Google Scholar Crossref

Kapteyn, A., Lee, J., Tassot, C., Vonkova, H., Zamarro, G. (2015). Dimensions of Subjective Well-Being. Dimensions of Subjective Well-Being. Social Indicators Research, 123 (3), 625-660.

Google Scholar Crossref

Kass, Gordon V. (1980). An Exploratory Technique for Investigating Large Quantities of Categorical Data, Applied Statistics, 29 (2), 119–127.

Google Scholar Crossref

Keilman N (1987). Recent trends in family and household composition in Europe. European Journal Population 3, 297–325.

Google Scholar Crossref

Kimm, J.; Lii T.; Nai Peng T., & Sor Tho N. (2014). Family Support and Loneliness among Older Persons in Multiethnic Malaysia, The Scientific World Journal, 1-11.

Google Scholar Crossref

Koslowski S. A. (2009) Grandparents and the care of their grandchildren. In: Stillwell, J. (ed.) Fertility, living arrangements, care and mobility. London: Springer.

Google Scholar Crossref

Land, Kenneth C., Michalos, Alex C., Sirgy, Joseph (Eds.) (2012). Handbook of Social Indicators and Quality of Life Research, Springer.

Google Scholar Crossref

Laslett, P. (1972). Mean household size in England since the sixteenth century. In: Laslett, P. &Wall, R. (eds.). Household and Family in past time. (121-158) London: Cambridge University Press.

Google Scholar Crossref

Leibfried, S. (1992). Towards a European Welfare State? On integrating Poverty Regimes into the European Community. In Ferge, Z. & J. Kolberg (eds.), Social Policy in a Changing Europe, (245-279). Boulder, CO: Westview.

Google Scholar Crossref

Leeson, W. (2013). Levels of welfarism and intergenerational transfers within the family: evidence from the Global Ageing Survey (GLAS) (with Khan H), in Global Ageing in the Twenty-First Century – Challenges, Opportunities and Implications (eds. McDaniel, S A & Zimmer Z), (291-308): Ashgate, Burlington USA.

Google Scholar Crossref

Litwin, H. (2010). Social networks and well-being: a comparison of older people in Mediterranean and non-Mediterranean countries. Journals of Gerontology B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 65 (5), 599–608.

Google Scholar Crossref

López Garcia, E. Banegas, J., Graciani Perez A., Herruzo R. and Rodriguez-Artalejo, F. (2005). Social network and health-related quality of life in older adults: a population-based study in Spain. Quality of Life Research, 14 (2), 511-520

Google Scholar Crossref

Moreno, L. & Serrano, A. (2009). The European Social Model and social policies: a formative institutional evaluation. Gestión y Análisis de Políticas Públicas, 2: 11-32.

Google Scholar Crossref

Moreno Mínguez, A. (ed.) (2013). Family wellbeing. European Perspectives, London: Springer.

Google Scholar Crossref

Moreno Mínguez, A., Fernández, L. & Carrasco A. (2014). Family Policy Indicators and Well-Being in Europe from an Evolutionary Perspective, Journal of Applied Research in Quality of Life,

Google Scholar Crossref

Naldini, M. (2013). The family in the Mediterranean Welfare States, London: Frank Class.

Google Scholar Crossref

OECD (2011). Doing better for families, OECD: Paris, www.oecd.org/social/family/doingbetter.

Google Scholar Crossref

OECD. (2010a). Improving health and social cohesion through education. Paris: OECD.

Google Scholar Crossref

OECD. (2010b). Society at a glance. Paris: OECD.

Google Scholar Crossref

Ogg, J. (2005) Social exclusion and insecurity among older Europeans. The influence of welfare regimes, Ageing and Society 25, 69-90.

Google Scholar Crossref

Palloni, A. (2001). Living Arrangements of Older Persons: Critical Issues and Policy Responses. Popul. Bulletin of the United Nations. (54-110). New York: United Nations;

Google Scholar Crossref

Pavolini, E. & Ranci, C. (2008). Restructuring the Welfare State: reforms in long term care in Western European countries. Journal of European Social Policy, 18, (3).

Google Scholar Crossref

Pleau, R. L. (2010). Trends and correlates of multigenerational coresidence, 1989-2009. PIWorkshop. University of California Davis, Department of Sociology.

Google Scholar Crossref

Puthenparambil, J. & Kröger, T. (2016) Using Private Social Care Services in Finland: Free or Forced Choices for Older People?, Journal of Social Service Research, 42 (2), 167-179, Reher, D.S. (1998). Family ties in Western Europe: Persistent contrasts. Population and Development Review 24(2), 203-234.

Google Scholar Crossref

Rodríguez Cabrero, G. (2011). Políticas sociales de atención a la dependencia en los Regímenes de Bienestar de la Unión Europea, Cuadernos de Relaciones Laborales 29 (1), 13-42.

Google Scholar Crossref

Ruggles, S. (2007). The Decline of Intergenerational Coresidence in the United States, 1850 to 2000. American Sociological Review, (72), 964-989.

Google Scholar Crossref

Saraceno, C. (2008). Patterns of family living in the enlarged EU. In: Alber, J., Fahey, T., & Saraceno, C. (eds.). Handbook of Quality of Life in the Enlarged European Union, (47-72), London and New York: Routledge.

Google Scholar Crossref

Singh, A. & Misra, N. (2009). Loneliness, depression and sociability in old age, Ind Psychiatry, 18 (1), 51-55.

Google Scholar Crossref

Smith, J., Borchelt, M., Maier, H., & Jopp, D. (2002). Health and well-being in the young old and oldest old. Journal of Social Issues, 58(4), 715–732.

Google Scholar Crossref

Springer, S. (2010). Living conditions and life satisfaction of older Europeans living alone: a gender and cross-country analysis, Ageing and Society, 30, 1153-1175.

Google Scholar Crossref

Steptoe, A., Deaton, A.; Stone, A. (2014). Subjective wellbeing, health, and ageing, The Lancet, 385 (9968), 640-648

Google Scholar Crossref

Stillwell, J. (ed.) (2009). Fertility, living arrangements, care and mobility. London: Springer

Google Scholar Crossref

Stone, A. Joseph E. Schwartz, J. E. Brodericka, & Angus Deaton (2010). A snapshot of the age distribution of psychological well-being in the United States, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 107 (22), 9985–9990.

Google Scholar Crossref

Tomassini, C., Glaser, K., Wolf, D. A., Van Groenou, M. I. B. & Grundy, E., (2004). Living arrangements among older people: an overview of trends in Europe and the USA, Further release of 2001 Census data, 1329, 24-34.

Google Scholar Crossref

Ulloa B., Møller V, Sousa-Poza A. (2013). How does subjective well-being evolve with age? A literature review IZA Discussion Paper No. 7328.

Google Scholar Crossref

Van Tilburg, T.; De JongGierveld, J.; Lecchini, L. & Marsiglia, D. (1998). Social integration and loneliness: a comparative study among older adults in the Netherlands and Tuscany, Italy. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 15 (6), 740–754.

Google Scholar Crossref

Viazzo, P. (2003). What’s so special about the Mediterranean? Thirty years of research on household and family in Italy. Continuity and Change, 18, 111–137.

Google Scholar Crossref

Wikman, A.; Wardle, J. & Steptoe, A. (2011). Quality of Life and Affective Well-Being in Middle-Aged and Older People with Chronic Medical Illnesses: A Cross-Sectional Population Based Study, PLoS ONE; 6 (4).

Google Scholar Crossref

United Nations (2007). Principles and recommendations for population and housing censuses. Revision 2. New York: United Nations.

Google Scholar Crossref

Zueras, P. and Pau Miret, P. (2013). Mayores que viven solos. Una panorámica a partir de los censos de 1991 y 2001. Revista Española de Investigaciones Sociológicas, 144, 139-152.

Google Scholar Crossref

Published

2016-07-30

Almetric

Dimensions

How to Cite

Moreno, A., & Vicente-Virseda, J. A. (2016). Family Situation, Social Protection, and Well-being of Older Adults from an European Comparative Perspective. Research on Ageing and Social Policy, 4(2), 96–127. https://doi.org/10.17583/rasp.2016.2048

Issue

Section

Articles