Societal Determinants of Productive Aging: A Multilevel Analysis across 11 European Countries

This article aims to improve our understanding of the societal determinants of older people's participation in non-market productive activities. Based on micro-data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe, we estimate logistic multilevel models for individuals' engagement in formal volunteering, informal helping, and caring across 11 countries. The results partially support hypotheses regarding the relationship between specific macro-level variables and individuals' productive engagement at older ages. While our measure of societal images of aging does not exhibit statistically significant associations with any of the activities considered here, our hypotheses concerning a positive relationship between greater political and religious freedom as well as the provision of welfare state services and older individuals' propensity to engage in productive aging are largely confirmed. We interpret these findings as evidence suggesting that both longstanding cultural elements of a society as well as contemporary welfare state interventions constitute reference frames and opportunity structures which older individuals perceive as relevant for their decision whether to participate in volunteering, helping, or caring.

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