Population ageing already is one of the foremost challenges for European societies today, and it will affect more and more countries in the future. As the balance between old and young is rapidly changing in all industrialized societies, ever less young people will have to care for ever more frail elderly. In light of the growing concern about the future of intergenerational solidarity in Western societies, it is vital to asses how private and public support interact. SHARE researcher Martina Brandt, therefore, analyses the effect of social policies on intergenerational help in Europe.
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"You can rely on a handshake." The old tradesmen tradition has evolved as a rule of thumb in health surveys. Researchers measure the hand grip strength to obtain reliable information about the true physical condition of the interviewee. The assessment of one's own health is often biased and varies from person to person. Hand grip strength does not only provide reliable information about the health of a person. It also reveals the socio-economic status, future disability and mortality risks. It therefore permits a glance into the individual's future. Karsten Hank and Hendrik Jürges, MEA, in cooperation with Jürgen Schupp and Gert G. Wagner, DIW Berlin, merged datasets of SHARE and SOEP and analysed the grip strength of the Germans. The result: from 16 to 50 years of age, Germans squeeze so hard that exact statements about their health cannot (yet) be made. However, beyond 50 years, the decreasing muscular strength does speak volumes.
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Many older people are willing and able to stay involved in productive ways, such as volunteering. So far, however, cross-nationally comparable data on the active participation of elders in volunteer work have been scarce. SHARE fills in this gap.
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The proportion of SHARE respondents who report to be in very good or excellent health varies considerably across countries. According to their subjective assessment, the healthiest elders live in Denmark, Sweden, and Switzerland. Nearly 50% of the Danish respondents and more than 40% of the Swedish and Swiss respondents report to be in very good or excellent health. The least healthy are French, German, Italian, and Spanish older adults. The proportion of respondents in very good or excellent health is at around 20% and thus only about half as large as in the healthy countries.
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