Economic Independence, Family Support and Perceived Health Status of the Elderly: Recent Evidence from India.

Ensuring healthy ageing for the Indian population is a major challenge awaiting its policymakers, particularly as older persons comprise an increasing share of the population. Given the country's inadequate health and social security system, support provided to the elderly by their families is crucial in determining the health status of older persons. In this context, the increasing integration of the Indian economy with global markets is expected to have complex effects, eroding traditional family structures while simultaneously creating new economic opportunities, which in turn may enhance the economic independence of older persons. Based on data collected in 2004 during the all-India survey of the National Sample Survey Organization, this paper examines the impact of economic independence and family support on the perceived health status of elderly. The results are controlled for demographic and socio-economic variables, such as age and per capita income. Ordered logit regression models are estimated for the all-India sample, classified by gender and place of residence. Subsequently, the model is re-estimated for major Indian states. The study finds that economic independence has a positive impact on perceived health status, while support from a spouse constitutes the major (if not the only) form of family support. This study provides important pointers for policymakers. Among other things, it highlights the importance of the joint family system and lifelong social and physical activity in ensuring a healthy ageing process, as well as the need to strengthen the bonds between older persons and subsequent generations through integrated inter-generational relations, two-way flows and interactions, and the education of younger generations on the symbolic role of elderly persons within the family. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]