Search

Much productive ageing research aims to identify the conditions under which older adults engage in productive roles within and outside the family. This study conceptualises two individual-level explanations for productive participation: capacity and necessity. I hypothesise that whether capacity or necessity prevails across different socio-economic groups depends on the degree of social protection guaranteed by pensions and long-term care systems, which varies across countries. Drawing on data from the SHARE and KLoSA surveys, this study compares socio-economic gradients in full-time work and informal caregiving across cohorts of men and women aged 50-75 in Italy and South Korea in 2006/07 and 2014/15. In Italy, where later-life social protection is generous, productive engagement is more common among wealthier and higher-educated individuals, who have greater capacity to engage in productive roles. In Korea, where social protection is limited, working is more common among socio-economically disadvantaged women, who have higher necessity to remain economically productive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Having grandchildren is known to reduce individuals' labour supply. However, it is unclear whether there is a negative association between grandchild care provision and employment among grandparents. Moreover, we do not know how the magnitude of any association between the two activities may vary across countries characterised by different child-care policy regimes. Using data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe, this paper investigates the association between daily grandchild care provision and two employment outcomes for grandmothers and grandfathers aged 50–69: the probability of being employed and the average weekly working hours. Recursive bivariate models are used to account for the potential selection of grandparents with different unobserved traits into work and family care. Estimates are compared across four country groups characterised by different child-care policy orientations: optional de-familisation, service de-familisation, supported familism and familism by default. On average, across 20 European countries, grandparents looking after grandchildren daily are no less likely to work than grandparents who do not; however, employed grandfathers work eight hours less per week if providing daily child care. Evidence of a negative association between daily grandchild care and employment is strongest in countries with familistic approaches to child care, with no association in countries characterised by optional de-familisation. This suggests that public support to child care may help retain grandparents in the labour force. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives We assess gender moderation in the association between partner care arrangements and individuals' well-being, and the extent to which gender differences vary across European care contexts. Methods We use 2015 data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe for 3,465 couples aged 50+, where at least 1 partner receives care. We assess gender differences in individuals' life satisfaction and depressive symptoms across 5 partner care arrangements: solo-; shared formal; shared informal; outsourced formal; and outsourced informal care. We explore heterogeneity in the gendered associations across 4 care contexts: Northern, Western, Southern, and Eastern Europe. Results Sharing care with formal providers is associated with lower well-being among women than men, with a significant well-being "penalty" among Southern European women with partners in shared formal care. Outsourcing partner care to informal providers is associated with higher well-being than other care arrangements for men across care contexts, but with lower well-being for women in Southern Europe. Discussion Policies to support caregivers' well-being need to be sensitive to the coordination of formal and informal caregiving support for men and women in their respective care contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Adolescents with depression need access to culturally relevant psychological treatment. In many low- and middle-income countries treatments are only accessible to a minority. We adapted group interpersonal therapy (IPT) for adolescents to be delivered through schools in Nepal. Here we report IPT's feasibility, acceptability, and cost. Methods: We recruited 32 boys and 30 girls (aged 13–19) who screened positive for depression. IPT comprised of two individual and 12 group sessions facilitated by nurses or lay workers. Using a pre-post design we assessed adolescents at baseline, post-treatment (0–2 weeks after IPT), and follow-up (8–10 weeks after IPT). We measured depressive symptoms with the Depression Self-Rating Scale (DSRS), and functional impairment with a local tool. To assess intervention fidelity supervisors rated facilitators' IPT skills across 27/90 sessions using a standardised checklist. We conducted qualitative interviews with 16 adolescents and six facilitators post-intervention, and an activity-based cost analysis from the provider perspective. Results: Adolescents attended 82.3% (standard deviation 18.9) of group sessions. All were followed up. Depression and functional impairment improved between baseline and follow-up: DSRS score decreased by 81% (95% confidence interval 70–95); functional impairment decreased by 288% (249–351). In total, 95.3% of facilitator IPT skills were rated superior/satisfactory. Adolescents found the intervention useful and acceptable, although some had concerns about privacy in schools. The estimate of intervention unit cost was US $96.9 with facilitators operating at capacity. Conclusions: School-based group IPT is feasible and acceptable in Nepal. Findings support progression to a randomised controlled trial to assess effectiveness and cost-effectiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives We examine whether socioeconomic inequalities in home-care use among disabled older adults are related to the contextual characteristics of long-term care (LTC) systems. Specifically, we investigate how wealth and income gradients in the use of informal, formal, and mixed home-care vary according to the degree to which LTC systems offer alternatives to families as the main providers of care ("de-familization"). Method We use survey data from SHARE on disabled older adults from 136 administrative regions in 12 European countries and link them to a regional indicator of de-familization in LTC, measured by the number of available LTC beds in care homes. We use multinomial multilevel models, with and without country fixed-effects, to study home-care use as a function of individual-level and regional-level LTC characteristics. We interact financial wealth and income with the number of LTC beds to assess whether socioeconomic gradients in home-care use differ across regions according to the degree of de-familization in LTC. Results We find robust evidence that socioeconomic status inequalities in the use of mixed-care are lower in more de-familized LTC systems. Poorer people are more likely than the wealthier to combine informal and formal home-care use in regions with more LTC beds. SES inequalities in the exclusive use of informal or formal care do not differ by the level of de-familization. Discussion The results suggest that de-familization in LTC favors the combination of formal and informal home-care among the more socioeconomically disadvantaged, potentially mitigating health inequalities in later life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the interactions between social policies and exchanges of support between parents aged 50 and over and their adult children in Italy and South Korea. In both countries, families are predominantly responsible for financial and care support to dependent members. However, in the mid-2010s, social security systems, labour market arrangements and family policies allocated resources between age groups in different proportions, favouring pensioners in Italy and prime-age workers in South Korea. Arguably, this difference may influence and interact with exchanges of support within families. Harmonised data for 2012–2013 from surveys of ageing are used to compare exchanges of financial support, instrumental care and intergenerational co-residence between parents aged 50 and above and their adult children. In Italy, where societal transfers favour older generations, intergenerational transfers from parents to children are large, and children provide complementary forms of help to ageing parents. In South Korea, where later-life protection is limited, parents are more heavily dependent upon adult children for financial and care support. The findings add to the existing literature on the relationship between societal and family transfers in European welfare regimes by exploring these interactions in broader contexts and policy areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]