Recent demographic shifts, such as decreasing marriage and fertility rates, will lead to larger numbers of middle-aged and older adults with fewer family members. Ageing without close kin can present unique challenges in terms of wellbeing deterioration and lack of personal care in later life. This paper examines the association between family structure and subjective wellbeing, by focusing on the moderating effect of social connectedness. I use data from the European Social Survey 2018 and compare middle-aged and older Europeans aged 50-90 across four family types: those with both a partner and children, those with a partner but not children, those with children but not partner, and those without partner and children (‘kinless’). Results from ordered logistic regression models show that middle-aged and older adults who lack partners exhibit lower levels of happiness and life satisfaction compared to partnered individuals. Among men but not among women, the absence of both partners and children is associated with a further reduction in the odds of having high levels of happiness and life satisfaction. The wellbeing disadvantages of kinless women diminishes according to their level of social connectedness. The results lend support to the substitution hypothesis, suggesting that the negative impact of lacking immediate kin ties on subjective wellbeing can be offset by the extent of social connectedness with other social relationships.
Presented by:
Marco Tosi (University of Padova)
Date & time:
22 May 2024 12:30 pm - 22 May 2024 13:30 pm
Venue:
2N2.4.16 (to join us online, please contact the seminar series organisers at iserseminars@essex.ac.uk)
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