A BIRD’S EYE VIEW: ANALYSING GENDER AND SOCIAL class INEQUALITIES IN ACTIVE AGEING IN EUROPE

The distribution of resources for older people to actively participate in society has received limited attention in ageing research despite growing relevance. We provide a compendium of indicators based on the analysis of large-scale surveys (including ESS, SHARE, SHARELIFE, SILC) with the aim to investigate gender and socio-economic inequalities in the employment, health and social participation of older people in Europe. We start from standard outcome active ageing indicators, which often mask core differences between gender and socio-economic groups. We then propose a three-tier analytical framework using indicators better reflecting existing inequalities and life course processes. Our results reveal that patterns of inequalities in old-age cannot be easily classified along traditional lines of welfare regime differences. We conclude that active ageing policies should look more closely at the underlying reasons for these patterns and develop tailored approaches to address them, both in later life and over the life cycle. (Accepted for the World Congress of Gerontology and Geriatrics, IAAG (2017),23-27 July 2017, San Francisco)