Suchergebnisse

The well-being of older Europeans is of increasing importance given the substantialageing of the population. This paper comprehensively analyses well-being forthe population aged 50+ in 26 European countries, using the newly proposedindicator "Years of Good Life" (YoGL), which measures the remaining yearsof life that an individual can expect to live in a "good" state. The indicatorenables the decomposition of well-being into various dimensions, thereby revealingimportant heterogeneities between regions and genders. Results show that numbersof YoGL at age 50 vary considerably between European countries. They are highestin Northern and Western European countries and lowest in Central and EasternEuropean countries, where many "good" years are lost due to low life satisfaction.Interestingly, the high life expectancy levels in Southern Europe do not translate intohigher numbers of YoGL, mainly due to the low levels of physical and cognitivehealth in this region. While women and men can expect to have similar numbersof YoGL, women are likely to spend a smaller proportion of their longer remaininglifetime in a good state. These results demonstrate the importance of using wellbeingindicators that consider population heterogeneity when measuring humanwell-being, especially for older populations.

This study analyses age-specific differences in income trends in nine European countries. Based on data from National Accounts and the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions, we quantify age-specific changes in income between 2008 and 2017 and decompose these changes into employment, wages, and public transfer components. Results show that income of the younger age groups stagnated or declined in most countries since 2008, while income of the older population increased. The decomposition analysis indicates that the main drivers of the diverging trends are higher employment among the older population and a strong increase in public pensions, especially for women.

This study analyses age-specific differences in income trends in nine European countries. Based on data from National Accounts and the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions, we quantify age-specific changes in income between 2008 and 2017 and decompose these changes into employment, wages, and public transfer components. Results show that income of the younger age groups stagnated or declined in most countries since 2008, while income of the older population increased. The decomposition analysis indicates that the main drivers of the diverging trends are higher employment among the older population and a strong increase in public pensions, especially for women. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11205-021-02838-w users.

This study analyses age-specific differences in income trends in nine European countries. Based on data from National Accounts and the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions, we quantify age-specific changes in income between 2008 and 2017 and decompose these changes into employment, wages, and public transfer components. Results show that income of the younger age groups stagnated or declined in most countries since 2008, while income of the older population increased. The decomposition analysis indicates that the main drivers of the diverging trends are higher employment among the older population and a strong increase in public pensions, especially for women.

The health of individuals is frequently assessed based on self-reported information derived from surveys. However, self-reports are often inconsistent with their tested equivalents, indicating measurement issues. While discrepancies between self-reported and tested health indicators have been investigated for high-income countries in Europe, little comparative research has been conducted involving other low-income regions. This paper analyses discrepancies between self-reported and tested health limitations across 25 countries from six world regions with different income-levels, cultural backgrounds, institutional settings, and epidemiological trajectories. Using harmonised data from the Gateway to Global Aging, we match self-reported mobility and cognition with their tested equivalent to assess discrepancies at the individual level. Our results suggest that the consistency between these measures is strongly correlated with the Human Development Index, with lower scores of development showing higher discrepancies. Examining patterns by age reveals that self-reports do not accurately reflect the deterioration of health associated with aging – tested health exhibits a pronounced age gradient, whereas self-reported health varies little over the life course, particularly self-reported memory. We find no persistent gender differences in consistency. These discrepancies cast doubt on the reliability of mobility and cognitive self-reports, especially when comparing health across nations with differing development levels.
* This article belongs to a special issue on "Levels and Trends of Health Expectancy: Understanding its Measurement and Estimation Sensitivity".

This introduction to the 2021 special issue of the Vienna Yearbook of Population Research explores demographic perspectives on human wellbeing across time and space. While the idea of relating demographic parameters to wellbeing has been around for a while, a more concrete research agenda on this topic has only recently gained momentum. Reviewing the research presented in this volume, we show how existing theoretical concepts and methodological tools in demography can be used to make substantial advances in the study of wellbeing. We also touch upon the many challenges researchers face in defining and measuring wellbeing, with the most important debate being about whether the focus should be on objective or subjective measures. The studies discussed here define wellbeing as health and mortality; as income, education or other resources; as happiness or life satisfaction; or as a combination thereof. They cover wellbeing in historical and contemporary populations in high- and low-income countries, and also point out important barriers to research on wellbeing, including the lack of good quality data in many regions. Finally, we highlight the value of considering population heterogeneities when studying wellbeing in order to identify population subgroups who are likely to fall behind, which can have important policy implications.

Sustainable development (SD) as popularized by the Brundtland Commission and politically enshrined in the Sustainable Development Goals has been the explicit focus of sustainability science. While there is broad agreement that the trend of human well-being ([Formula: see text]) over time should serve as a sustainability criterion, the literature so far has mostly addressed this in terms of its determinants rather than focusing on [Formula: see text] itself. There is broad agreement that an indicator for [Formula: see text] should have multiple constituents, clearly going beyond gross domestic product. Here, we propose a tailor-made indicator to serve precisely this purpose following a set of specified desiderata, including its applicability to flexibly defined subnational populations by gender, place of residence, ethnicity, and other relevant characteristics. The indicator, years of good life (YoGL), reflects the evident fact that in order to be able to enjoy any quality of life, one has to be alive and thus is primarily based on life expectancy. However, since mere survival is not considered good enough, life years are counted conditional on meeting minimum standards in two dimensions: the objective dimension of capable longevity (consisting of being out of absolute poverty and enjoying minimal levels of physical and cognitive health) and the subjective dimension of overall life satisfaction. We illustrate the calculation of this indicator for countries and subpopulations at different stages of development and with different degrees of data availability.