Quality of Later Life in Europe: An Econometric Analysis

Abstract

The aim of this chapter is to explore the determinants of the quality of life of people aged 60 and over in 26 European countries from a double perspective: individual and spatial. We draw on the latest data available from the Survey on Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) (7th wave). To achieve our purpose, a synthetic indicator of quality of life is first obtained, as an alternative to the CASP12 scale that provides said survey. Several econometric models are then estimated to analyse the most decisive factors in explaining the quality of life in older European adults. In 17 of the 26 countries, ceteris paribus, older citizens have a quality of life that is clearly worse than that of the nine countries that make up the Nordic and continental groups. The results of the econometric models bear out the deep-rooted differences between countries vis-à-vis the quality of life of our elderly people