Abstract
BackgroundGender and health are two factors that shape the quality of life in old age. Previous available literature established an associaton between various demographic and socio-economic factors with the health and well-being of older adults in India; however, the influence of childless aged is neglected. Therefore, the study examined the gender differential in psychological health and subjective well-being among older adults, focusing on childless older adults.MethodologyThis study utilized data from Building a Knowledge Base on Population Aging in India (BKPAI). Psychological health and subjective well-being were examined for 9541 older adults aged 60 years & above. Descriptive statistics and bivariate analysis were used to find the preliminary results. Further, multivariate analysis has been done to fulfill the objective of the study.ResultsAround one-fifth (21.2%) of the men reported low psychological health, whereas around one-fourth (25.5%) of the women reported low psychological health. Further, around 24 per cent of men and 29 per cent of women reported low subjective well-being. Results found that low psychological well-being (OR = 1.87, C.I. = 1.16–3.01), as well as low subjective well-being (OR = 1.78, C.I. = 1.15–2.76), was higher in childless older women than in childless older men. Higher education, community involvement, good self-rated health, richest wealth quintile, and residing in urban areas significantly decrease the odds of low subjective well-being and low psychological well-being among older adults.ConclusionThere is a need to improve older adults’ psychological health and subjective well-being through expanded welfare provisions, especially for childless older adults. Moreover, there is an immediate requirement to cater to the needs of poor and uneducated older adults.
Highlights
Population ageing is a human achievement, reflecting the reductions in fertility and the improvements in survival associated with economic and social development and advances in public health and medicine [1]
Results found that low psychological well-being (OR = 1.87, C.I. = 1.16–3.01), as well as low subjective well-being (OR = 1.78, C.I. = 1.15–2.76), was higher in childless older women than in childless older men
There is a need to improve older adults’ psychological health and subjective well-being through expanded welfare provisions, especially for childless older adults
Summary
Population ageing is a human achievement, reflecting the reductions in fertility and the improvements in survival associated with economic and social development and advances in public health and medicine [1]. Results from this study suggest considerable variations in low psychological health and low subjective well-being among older adults by selected socioeconomic characteristics such as age, gender, education status, working status, community involvement, trust, living arrangement, wealth, and caste. These socioeconomic variations in low psychological health and low subjective well-being have been documented in previous studies from India [31, 32]. Previous studies in various settings have highlighted poor subjective well-being and psychological health among childless older adults disfavouring older women [33, 34]. A few studies did not find any significant association with gender [35]
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