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This paper examines the impact of wealth and income on the likelihood of depression among persons aged 50 or higher in four European regions characterised by differences in the standards of living and welfare systems. To address possible effects, data from Wave 6 of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) have been used. Based on a sample of 60,864 persons resident in 16 European countries and a binary indicator of depression, probit and instrumental variable probit models were employed, the latter of which deal with issues of endogeneity and omitted variable bias. The findings show differences in the prevalence of depression across Europe, favouring the more affluent North/Western countries. Further, there is a difference in the role and the magnitude of the effect of income and wealth across different regions. First, though both measures exhibit a measurable effect, their impact is greater in the poorer Central/Eastern and Southern regions; this divide is more pronounced for wealth. Second, income seems to have a stronger effect compared to wealth in all instances: hence, it would seem that liquidity is more important among Europeans aged 50 or higher than assets. Nevertheless, neither income nor wealth are important among persons aged 65 or higher in Nordic countries which may be partly attributable to a more equitable welfare system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The contemporary discussion about the growing ‘burden of population ageing’ should not neglect the substantial productive potential of older people. Using micro-data from the 2004 Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), this paper examines the relationships between selected socio-demographic characteristics and the rates of participation in voluntary work in 10 European countries among those aged 50 or more years. The analysis reveals a clear spatial pattern, with relatively high participation rates in Northern Europe and relatively low participation rates in Mediterranean countries, and shows that age, education, health and involvement in other social activities strongly influence an individual's propensity to engage in volunteer work. A multivariate logistic regression provided no indication that the country differences can be explained by variations in population composition or attributes, such as the age structure or differences in health status. The findings have important implications for future cross-national research and for policies to promote the participation of older adults in voluntary work, and suggest that policies and programmes to encourage older citizens to make greater use of their productive capacities are feasible. It is concluded that further research needs to account for the influences of institutions and culture on participation in volunteering, the finding of this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Faced with demographic ageing, European policy makers since the mid-1990s have taken a turn from fostering early retirement to promoting longer working life by reducing early exit incentives and facilitating work continuation. However, it remains open whether these reforms are yet reflected in the retirement plans and preferences of future pensioners’ cohorts. Using most recent data on desired retirement ages from the fifth wave of the European Social Survey (2010/11 wave), this paper empirically investigates how far current policy reforms are in line with the retirement age preferences of older workers aged 45 and over. Results show that older workers approaching retirement ages still intend to retire before the politically envisioned age of 65, and in many cases also before nationally defined standard retirement ages. Despite visible progress in implementing active ageing measures, the challenge of motivating older workers to continue working until or even beyond retirement ages thus remains. At the same time, there are regime-specific problem groups that face difficulties in adjusting to the active ageing paradigm of longer working life. Especially in countries with little employment support, those with unstable work careers, employment interruptions and few financial resources are at a high risk of being crowded out from late career employment and thus from the possibility of ensuring a decent standard of living in old age. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper explores social exclusion among older Europeans from ten different countries with three types of welfare regime: Nordic, Mediterranean and post- socialist. Data from the first round of the new European Social Survey are used to explore indicators of social exclusion. A measure of social exclusion and insecurity is constructed from indicators of: the regularity of meeting with friends and relatives, taking part in social activities, self-rated physical health and mental health, self-rated income, and the quality of the local area. The results confirm the findings of previous research that show a link between developed welfare regimes and low rates of social exclusion in old age. At the same time, more developed welfare regimes appear to deal less well with the effects of separation and divorce. The Mediterranean welfare regimes show distinctive signs of stress, which suggests that the supplementation or replacement of weakened immediate and extended family ties has not taken place. In all countries, a higher level of education appears to play a crucial role in reducing the chances of being insecure or socially excluded in old age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Timely access to care services is crucial to support people with dementia and their family carers to live well. Carers of people with dementia (N = 390), recruited from eight countries, completed semi-structured interviews about their experiences of either accessing or not using formal care services over a 12-month period in the Access to Timely Formal Care (Actifcare) study. Participant responses were summarised using content analysis, categorised into clusters and frequencies were calculated. Less than half of the participants (42.3%) reported service use. Of those using services, 72.8 per cent reported timely access and of those not using services 67.2 per cent were satisfied with this situation. However, substantial minorities either reported access at the wrong time (27.2%), or feeling dissatisfied or mixed feelings about not accessing services (32.8%). Reasons for not using services included use not necessary yet, the carer provided support or refusal. Reasons given for using services included changes in the condition of the person with dementia, the service's ability to meet individual needs, not coping or the opportunity to access services arose. Facilitators and barriers to service use included whether participants experienced supportive professionals, the speed of the process, whether the general practitioner was helpful, participant's own proactive attitude and the quality of information received. To achieve timely support, simplified pathways to use of formal care services are needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aims of the present study are twofold: first, to examine the importance of socio-economic disadvantage, adverse experiences and poor health in childhood on later-life depression by sex and, second, to discern the direct and indirect effects of childhood circumstances using a decomposition technique. Data are derived from Waves 2 and 3 of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). The methods involve use of logistic regression models and a decomposition approach. The findings indicate that childhood socio-economic status (SES) for both genders and cognitive function for men have only a significant direct effect, consistent with the critical period model. Childhood health for men and poor parental mental health for women are nearly fully mediated by adulthood and later-life circumstances, a fact in line with the pathway model. Poor childhood health, parental excessive alcohol consumption and cognitive function for women and adverse experiences for men have both significant direct and indirect effects, consistent with both models. Mediating factors include poor adulthood and later-life health, socio-economic adversity and stress; adulthood and later-life SES mediate early life health and adverse experiences more strongly for men, whereas stress seems to mediate early life adverse experiences to a greater extent among women. Intervening policies should address childhood adversity while considering the differential vulnerability of men and women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spouses (and partners) are the most important source of care in old age. Informal care for frail spouses is provided by both sexes and across all socio-economic backgrounds and welfare policy contexts. There are, however, interesting differences as to whether spouses care alone, receive informal support from other family members or formal support from professional helpers, or outsource the care of their spouse completely. The present article contributes to the literature by differentiating between solo spousal care-giving and shared or outsourced care-giving arrangements, as well as between formal and informal care support. Moreover, we show how care-giving arrangements vary with gender, socio-economic status and welfare policy. Adding to previous research, we compare 17 countries and their expenditures on two elder-care schemes: Cash-for-Care and Care-in-Kind. The empirical analyses draw on the most recent wave of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) data from 2015. Our results show that men have a higher propensity to share care-giving than women, albeit only with informal supporters. As expected, welfare policy plays a role insofar as higher expenditure on Cash-for-Care schemes encourage informally outsourced care-giving arrangements, whereas Care-in-Kind reduce the likelihood for informally shared or outsourced care-giving arrangements. Moreover, the influence of these welfare policy measures differs between individuals of different socio-economic status but not between men and women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research unequivocally shows that immigrants are less successful in the labour market than the native-born population. However, little is known about whether ethnic inequality persists after retirement. We use data on 16 Western European countries from the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC, 2004–2013) to provide the first comparative study of ethnic inequalities among the population aged 65 and older. We focus on the retirement income gap (RIG) between immigrants from non-European Union countries and relate its magnitude to country differences in welfare state arrangements. Ethnic inequality after retirement is substantial: after adjusting for key characteristics including age, education and occupational status, the average immigrant penalty across the 16 countries is 28 per cent for men and 29 per cent for women. Country-level regressions show that income gaps are smaller in countries where the pension system is more redistributive. We also find that easy access to long-term residence is associated with larger RIGs, at least for men. There is no clear evidence that immigrants’ access to social security programmes, welfare state transfers to working-age households or the strictness of employment protection legislation affect the size of the RIG. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

European welfare states used to be based on the principle of the family. Since the 1990s, however, ‘individual responsibility’ has been promoted, which fundamentally alters the traditional welfare-institutional framing of the family and the corresponding construction of the social citizen. One policy field that has been heavily influenced by this development is old-age security. The literature assumes a convergence towards institutional individualisation. We show this however to be incorrect. We empirically analyse and classify welfare-institutional change in old-age security with regard to individualisation. An innovative methodological approach for institutional analysis allows a nuanced identification of the welfare-institutional trends towards individualisation of the social citizen above pension age both within and between welfare states. We conclude that there has been no general and no partial convergence towards individualisation. Instead, on average, family elements in old-age security have either increased or persisted. Also, our analysis suggests that welfare-institutional change with regard to family is far from being a linear process and in part even displays contradictions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Western societies are ageing rapidly. Today people do not only live longer, they also have fewer children. These developments exert considerable pressure on welfare states. Children have usually been the mainstay of old age support, especially when there is no partner. We thus face new challenges: On which support networks can a growing number of childless older people rely? (How) can the lack of children be compensated in the informal social network? What role does the state play and how is informal and formal support linked? Our comparative analyses of the support networks of childless elders are based on the first two waves of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe, including 14,394 people with (instrumental) activities of daily living limitations aged 50 and over from 12 European countries. On average, 10 per cent of older Europeans today have no children. Sporadic informal support for these elders is often taken over by the extended family, friends and neighbours, and thus the lack of children is compensated within the social network. Intense care tasks, however, are more likely provided by professional providers, especially in the case of childless older people. In countries with low social service provision, childless elders are therefore likely to experience a lack of (formal) support, especially when depending on vital care. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Using data from the European Social Survey fielded in 2010/11, this study presents new evidence on retirement preferences in Europe. It investigates retirees' preferred and actual ages of retirement, focusing on the retirement window 1995–2011. Moreover, it reports on the prevalence of mismatch in the form of involuntary retirement (retiring earlier than preferred) and involuntary work (retiring later than preferred). The study identifies substantial shares of retirees who are affected by a mismatch between their preferred and actual ages of retirement. In the majority of the countries analysed, at least 30 per cent of retirees would have preferred to continue working past the age at which they retired, while in a number of countries sizeable shares of retirees report involuntary work. The risk factors for involuntary retirement include the experience of late-career job loss, unemployment, job exits for health reasons and, in the case of women, working in higher-status occupations. The risk factors for involuntary work include fatherhood and, in the case of women, part-time work. As a result of rising actual ages of retirement, the risk of involuntary retirement has decreased for more recent retirement cohorts, while due to pension reforms that have tightened eligibility rules for early retirement, men's risk of involuntary work has increased. However, involuntary retirement is still more prevalent than involuntary work. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Financial support and practical help between older parents and their middle-aged children vary greatly among the regions of Europe. Northern and Western Europe is characterised by a high likelihood of practical help to and financial transfers from parents, while in Southern and Eastern Europe these kinds of support are much less likely. Financial transfers to parents show an almost opposite distribution, with more children supporting a parent in Southern and Eastern welfare regimes. Using the second wave of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe encompassing 14 European countries conducted in 2006–07, these country differences can be linked to different social policies. Controlling for different aspects of country composition in terms of individual characteristics and family structures impacting on intergenerational support, it was found that the more services and transfers provided publicly, the more people aged 50 or more years helped their older parents sporadically, and the less monetary support they provided. On the other hand, generous public transfers enabled parents aged 64 or more years to support their offspring financially. Thus, neither ‘crowding in’ nor ‘crowding out’, but a modification of private transfers depending on public transfers and vice versa is found, suggesting a specialisation of private and public support. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In 2004 in Europe, more than two-thirds of those born during 1945–54 had a parent or parent-in-law alive, and the rates of co-residence with their ascendants ranged from less than four per cent in Sweden, Denmark and The Netherlands, to between 17 and 24 per cent in Italy, Spain and Greece. The proportions that had provided practical help to their parents during the previous 12 months had a north-south gradient, from approximately one-in-three in the northern countries to 15 per cent or less in the southern countries. In contrast, the proportions of the helpers that provided regular and almost daily help had an inverse pattern, being low in Sweden and Denmark and much higher in the south. Some of these differences may be attributable to variations among the countries in the interpretation of ‘help’. Help to elderly parents tends to be most associated with the gender of givers and receivers, the living arrangements, geographical proximity and needs of the parents, and the availability of adult children who can help. There is little evidence of a specific ‘baby-boomer generation’ effect on the probability of giving help. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]