Suchergebnisse

Given this variation in the context of global ageing as a backdrop, this edited book focuses on three overarching themes that are among the most critical to understand if societies are to age successfully in the twenty-first century and beyond: Healthy ageing and health care; the ageing workforce, retirement and the provision of pensions; shifting intergenerational relations. These three themes are cross-cut by other dimensions that are intertwined with the dynamic processes of ageing, such as immigration/emigration, contrasting policy regimes and global and national economic forces.

AbstractInvestigations into changes in household formations across lower‐ and middle‐income countries (LMICs) rarely consider skip‐generation households. Yet, demographic, social, and economic forces increasingly encourage skip‐generation household formations. We examine trends and changes in the prevalence of skip‐generation households from 1990 to 2016, examining households, adults aged 60+, and children under 15, across 49 countries using household roster data from Demographic and Health Surveys. Analysis takes place in stages, first describing trends in skip‐generation households across countries and next providing explanatory analyses using multilevel modeling to assess whether, and the degree to which, country‐level characteristics like AIDS mortality and female labor force participation explain trends in the probability that a household is, or that an individual resides in, a skip‐generation household. Results indicate extensive increases in skip‐generation households in many LMICs, although there is also variation. The increases and variations are not well‐explained by the country‐level characteristics in our models, suggesting other underlying reasons for the rise and prominence of skip‐generation households across LMICs.

Abstract

Background
There has been debate regarding whether increases in longevity result in longer and healthier lives or more disease and suffering. To address the issue, this paper uses health expectancy methods and tests an expansion versus compression of morbidity with respect to pain.


Methods
Data are from 1993 to 2018 Health and Retirement Study. Pain is categorized as no pain, non-limiting and limiting pain. Multistate life tables examine 77,996 wave-to-wave transitions across pain states or death using the Stochastic Population Analysis for Complex Events program. Results are presented as expected absolute and relative years of life for 70-, 80- and 90-year-old males and females. Confidence intervals assess significance of differences over time. Population- and status-based results are presented.


Results
For those 70 and 80 years old, relative and absolute life with non-limiting and limiting pain increased substantially for males and females, and despite variability on a wave-to-wave basis, results generally confirm an expanding pain morbidity trend. Results do not vary by baseline status, indicating those already in pain are just as likely to experience expansion of morbidity as those pain-free at baseline. Results are different for 90-year-olds who have not experienced expanding pain morbidity and do not show an increase in life expectancy.


Conclusions
Findings are consistent with extant literature indicating increasing pain prevalence among older Americans and portend a need for attention on pain-coping resources, therapies, and prevention strategies.

For some time, Chinese government policies have treated rural and urban areas very differently, and a by-product of China's rapid development seems to be an even greater differentiation between urban and rural social and economic life. Over the next several decades, in part because of rapid fertility declines and in part as a result of mortality declines at older ages, China and other developing countries will experience enormous increases in the proportion of older adults and the proportion of the "oldest-old." It is reasonable to expect that these age structure changes will alter the provision of health care, making an understanding of the determinants of health at older ages critical for the development and implementation of policy. The analysis in this Population Council working paper describes differences in mortality and examines the extent to which variations are accounted for by socioeconomic and health-access and health-availability characteristics that are measured at individual and community levels. On the individual level, cadre status is influential and at the community level, the important measure is the number of amenities available to residents.

Purpose: The study compares life and active life expectancy estimates across indicators of socioeconomic status (SES) for a cohort of older adults in the Beijing municipality. Our aim is to determine if associations found are consistent across indicators and with those typically observed in the Western industrialized countries. Method: A multistate life table method is used to estimate expected years of total and active life, defined as life spent without limitation in functions necessary for performing daily tasks. Results: We find that men of higher status experience advantages with respect to life and active life expectancies. Among women, only active life expectancy is significantly higher for those of higher status, but the difference by income is not statistically significant. With respect to the proportion of life spent in an active state, both men and women of higher status benefit in comparison to their lower status counterparts. Finally, we find that disparities by SES generally increase with age. Conclusions: Despite several inconsistencies across SES indicators by gender, findings generally confirm inequalities within a society that is organized very differently socially, economically, and politically from the West.