Is a car necessary for active aging? Relationships between aging, car use, and time spent on activities that sustain health and well-being

Abstract

The aging population of the Global North is increasingly car dependent, with repercussions for health and well-being. This article analyzes how car use interacts with living an active life and how this has changed over time in Sweden. National time use data were used to analyze change in two cross sections of older people (65–84 years old) over a ten-year period (2000/01–2010/11). Previous studies concentrated on the relationship between travel behavior as such and older adult’s access to driver’s licenses and cars. We offer an integrated approach that includes all daily activities as we explore the changing social distribution of car use, as well as how different levels of car use are associated with time spent on active aging activities that benefit individuals and society.We conclude that an increasing proportion of the older population in Sweden are moderate to heavy car users and identify convergence over time between car use by older women and older men. We also find that heavy car users spend more time traveling to active aging activities. At first glance, this finding suggest that older people in Sweden are dependent on a car for living an active life. However, examination of how much time is actually spent on active activities after travel time is excluded reveals that few significant differences remain. This nuances the idea that access to a car is a necessity for spending time in activities that contribute to society and to personal well-being in old age.