Subjective Well-Being in Older Age: Effects of Age, Period and Cohort

Darya Kareva, National research university "Higher school of economics"
Oxana Sinyavskaya, Institute for Social Policy at National Research University - Higher School of Economics
Stanislava Amsharinskaya, National Research University - Higher School of Economics

Economic crises, social upheavals and epidemiological shocks experienced by older adults throughout their lives may affect their subjective well-being (SWB). The aim of this study is to assess the influence of age, period and cohort effects on the SWB of Russians aged 50 years and over using data from the annual “Russian Monitoring of the Economic Situation and Health of the Population” survey conducted by the National Research University Higher School of Economics in 1994-2022. We selected respondents aged 50 years and over in each wave and combined them into a single panel. This sampling design allows us to apply the hierarchical APC-Cross-Classified Random Effects models. Age is treated as a fixed effect. Period and birth cohort variables are treated as random effects. SWB is estimated as life satisfaction. The model includes socio-demographic control variables. We find a statistically significant relationship between SWB and economic cycles. The largest decrease in life satisfaction was observed during the 1998 crisis. As for the cohort effect, the most significant negative contribution was made by being born during the Second World War, which can be explained by the difficult post-war years of life and the difficulties associated with adapting to new economic realities.

Keywords: Population Ageing, Computational social science methods, Data visualisation

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