Tracing the origins of successful aging: The role of childhood conditions and social inequality in explaining later life health

摘要: This study investigates the role of childhood conditions and social inequality in older Europeans' propensity to age successfully, controlling for later life risk factors. Successful aging was assessed following Rowe Kahn's conceptualization, using baseline interviews from first two waves Survey Health, Ageing Retirement Europe (SHARE). These data were merged with retrospective information on participants 13 Continental European countries, collected as part SHARELIFE project. Our sample consists 22,464 men women, who are representative non-institutionalized population aged 50 or (mean age: 63.3) their respective country. Estimating multilevel logistic models, we controlled demographics (age, sex), (SES, health, cognition), factors (various dimensions SES health behaviors), well (measured by country-specific Gini coefficients). There is an independent association living elders' odds well. Higher parental SES, better math reading skills, self-reports good positively associated successful aging, even if contemporary characteristics for. Later behaviors exhibited expected correlations our dependent variable. Moreover, lower levels income a greater probability meeting criteria. We conclude that unfavorable exhibit harmful influence individuals' chances across all welfare states considered this study. Policy interventions should thus aim at improving throughout entire course.