A reformulation and assessment of the Global AgeWatch Wellbeing Index: inclusion of a gender-based domain

Abstract

The Global AgeWatch Index (GAWI) is a measure that ranks countries according to the wellbeing of their older populations. The GAWI was originally constructed using four domains of economic and social wellbeing including: income security, health status, capability and enabling environment. This paper proposes and develops a new domain of gender equality to produce a reformulated index (rGAWI). This cross-sectional study utilised publicly available data on female labour force participation, total fertility rate and age at first marriage in combination with the original GAWI data. The country ranking based on the two indices (GAWI and rGAWI) were subsequently compared and analysed. The inclusion of the gender inequality domain into the GAWI resulted in changes in the rankings of 87.5% of the countries, indicating that the inclusion of a gender inequality domain increases the specificity of the well-being measure.