The impact of life-course socio-economic position on quality of life at later ages: evidence from Estonia

Abstract

This study, guided by life-course theory and cumulative (dis)advantage theory, investigates the impact of the accumulation of socio-economic advantages and disadvantages, over the life course, on the quality of life (QoL) of the older population, and the mediating role of their current financial distress. In our study, we focus on the accumulation model. The study primarily uses data from Estonia in wave 4 of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), with supplemental data from wave 5. Linear regression models were calculated based on two measures of quality of life : CASP-12 and life satisfaction. When measured by CASP-12, the socio-economic position in adulthood seems to play a more important role than that of childhood for the current quality of life of older people and even seems to compensate for it slightly when the current financial distress level is controlled for. However, when measured by life satisfaction, accumulated socio-economic (dis)advantages, especially in early youth, have a greater impact on the current quality of life of older people. It is important to acknowledge that different measures of QoL might yield different results.

Keywords

• subjective well-being
• life satisfaction
• socio-economic position
• life course
• financial distress
• estonia