Family Situation, Social Protection, and Well-being of Older Adults from an European Comparative Perspective
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Abstract
The aim of this research is therefore to analyse the well-being of people over 65 living in multi-generational households, compared to those who live in their own home, either with a partner or alone. The analysis takes a comparative approach, and seeks to analyse and unravel the differences between countries in terms of the subjective well-being of this segment according to the type of household they live in, against a backdrop of the framework of the welfare state, social policies on dependent care, and family models. The methodology used in this comparative approach consists of applying association analyses based on “decision trees”. The data source used is the European Quality of Life Survey, 2011-2012. The findings show that live in multigenerational households is inversely related to the perception of well-being and quality of life in the group of people over 65 years in the countries of southern Europe. Indeed the results suggest that the social policies implemented by welfare States can satisfactorily contribute to the well-being and quality of life of these groups in the same or greater measure as family solidarity, as evidenced by the results obtained for Nordic countries.
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