Elderly well-being in Latin America countries: determinants and gender differences

Mariachiara Di Cesare, London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)
José Miguel Guzmán, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)

The Population ageing represents nowadays the most important challenge for most of the world for its social and economic consequences. Latin America and the Caribbean countries represent an interesting case due to the path and socio-economic context which implies effective strategies to optimize the scarce available resources. The main goal of this study is the analysis of the determinants of elderly well-being perception in the Latin America and Caribbean countries. Moreover, the analysis intends to point out the existence of gender differences in the perception of well-being. The database used is the Latinobarometro (2006). Results show how elderly well-being profile is affected by a chain of components in which economic and health condition have the main effect. The gender comparison shows how elderly women are characterized by advantages related with their life course. Men are strongly affected by the role disruption associated with paid work and the reduced self-esteem.