Search

This study analyzes the social participation of older people based on individual and contextual variables. For this purpose the data of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) in particular waves 1, 2 and 4 have been used. A four-level model with fixed and random effects was carried out. The model obtained shows the effect of individual variables: a greater participation in more recent waves, in ages between 60-70 years and the effect of variables such as cognitive functioning, years of education and health self-perception. But significant differences were also found in participation in contextual variables and between countries. These results are important for public policy managers, who must take into account not only individual variables, but also contextual variables, which explain the differences in the participation rate of the elderly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to contribute further research on the conceptualization of individual financial satisfaction as a particular domain of satisfaction with life as a whole. Based on the 2003 Survey on Living Conditions and Poverty for Andalucía (Spain) and using a self-reported measure of welfare, ordered probit models are used to analyze the extent to which individual financial satisfaction can be solely explained by income in absolute terms, or alternatively, by taking into account the importance of relative income in its two dimensions: (1) personal aspirations as individual’s adaptation to previous and future income levels (intra-individual comparisons), and (2) social comparisons as individual’s concern for her peer’s income (inter-personal dependency). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]