Gender differences in well-being in older age

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Gender differences in well-being in older age

• James Nazroo and Anne McMunn
• UCL
• www.ucl.ac.uk/epidemiology

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Gender inequalities in depression

• Women have between 1.5 and twice the rate of men
• Differences appear to develop around puberty and
  be greatest during the reproductive years
• At their peak in the early 30s and greatest among
  the married?
• This has led to a focus on
• Biological differences, related to childbearing
  and reproductive hormones
• Gendered roles, which become more concrete around
  puberty, and the experiences, stresses and
  expectations that surround them
• Need to consider more than role occupation, also
  gender differences in role quality role
  strain, the cost of caring, and the
  identity-salience of stressful events
• Little data on gender differences in depression
  for the period post menopause/child rearing (ONS
  surveys)

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Gender inequalities at older ages

• Financial resources pensions and housing wealth
  (legacy of roles earlier in life)
• Paid and unpaid labour
• Paid work in years leading up to state pension
  age
• Responsibilities for providing informal care
• Marriage and widowhood
• Gendered roles in the household
• All leading to gender differences in the
  opportunity to be a Third ager

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The English Longitudinal Study of Ageing

• A panel study of 11,500 people aged 50 and
  older, drawn from the Health Survey for England
  and interviewed every two years (since 2002)
• Health trajectories, disability and healthy life
  expectancy
• The relationship between economic position and
  health
• The determinants of economic position in later
  life
• Timing of retirement and post retirement labour
  market activity
• Social participation, productivity, networks and
  support
• Economic, social and health inequalities

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Questionnaire coverage and outcomes

• Demographics
• Health and disability
• Cognitive function
• Psychosocial factors and well-being
• Social and civic participation
• Housing
• Employment and earnings
• Pensions and retirement
• Income, assets and consumption
• Expectations for the future
• Performance and biomedical measures
• Links to administrative data

• Depression symptoms (Center for Epidemiological
  Studies Depression scale (CESD8))
• Psychological well-being (General Health
  Questionnaire (GHQ12))
• Quality of Life
• (Control, Autonomy, Self-realisation and
  Pleasure scale (CASP-19))

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Gender differences in depression(CES-D)
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Gender differences in psychological
distress(GHQ12)
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Gender differences in quality of life(CASP19)
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Gender differences in employment status
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Gender differences in providing informal care
Women
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Gender differences in recipients of care
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Gender differences in household income
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Gender differences in marital status by age
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Gender differences in social participation
Per cent who want to go but cannot
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Factors associated with depression women (1)
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Factors associated with depression men (1)
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Factors associated with depression women (2)
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Factors associated with depression men (2)
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The influence of role occupation on gender
inequality in depression in older age
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The influence of role occupation on gender
inequality in depression in older age
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The influence of role occupation on gender
inequality in quality of life in older age
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The influence of role occupation on gender
inequality in quality of life in older age
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Conclusions (1)

• Gender inequality in depression persists into
  older age, but not for a measure of quality of
  life
• Material circumstances, role occupation and role
  quality relate to depression for both men and
  women
• Income/wealth and economic activity
• Marital status (widowhood) and quality of
  marriage
• Control and demands, and social participation
• Gender differences in marital status and quality,
  and social participation contribute to higher
  rates of depression for women, and when accounted
  for suggest that older women have better quality
  of life than older men
• But we need better measures of role occupation
  and quality if we are to understand this better

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Conclusions (2)

• And we need to be very aware of cohort and period
  effects
• ELSA is a study of people born before (and
  around) the second world war (gender roles,
  welfare state and economic depression)
• 1960s, 1970s and onwards presented significant
  opportunities (education, birth control, divorce,
  anti-discrimination legislation etc.), which may
  change gender inequalities in material outcomes
• Associated cultural changes may also influence
  how gendered identities are taken up
• However, there remain differentials in career
  progression, economic rewards, and gendered roles
  (for example, part-time work) institutional
  lag?
• And younger womens participation in paid work
  may create gendered grand-parenting
  responsibilities