This study explores country differences in late-life loneliness in Europe among men and women and establishes the role of micro-level differences in socioeconomic status, health, and social variables in these patterns. We use cross-sectional, nationally representative data from the Generations and Gender Survey. The analysis comprises 33,832 Europeans aged 60-80 from 11 countries. A six-item short version of the de JongGierveld Scale is used to measure loneliness, yet we employ a different method of calculating loneliness scores than in prior work. Findings show considerable between-country heterogeneity in late-life loneliness, especially among women. The rate of a quite severe level of loneliness is 30-55 % among men and women in Eastern Europe, compared with 10-20 % among their peers in Western and Northern Europe. Loneliness is strongly associated with lower socioeconomic status, poorer health, and not having a partner. More than half of the country variance in loneliness is mediated by health, partnership status, and socioeconomic disparities across countries. Differences in societal wealth and welfare and cultural norms may account for some of the unexplained country variance in loneliness.

Psychological well-being, Parental status, Childlessness, Norway, Cognitive, Affective, Moderating effects,

Financial satisfaction, Age, Satisfaction paradox, Norway, Assets, Debt, Income,

This study re-examines the much-discussed paradox that although aging is associated with declines in many life domains, overall subjective well-being does not appear to decline sharply with age. We use data from two waves of the Norwegian NorLAG study (age 40-85, n=3,750) and examine age differences in change in well-being outcomes (life satisfaction, positive affect, negative affect, and depression) and factors that may account for age variations in such change. Outcomes show stability well into older age, but negative changes in advanced age, cross-sectionally or longitudinally. Life satisfaction and negative affect are adversely related to older age longitudinally, whereas positive affect and depression are adversely related to older age in the cross-section. Results are similar for men and women. Loss of health and partner are the main causes of declining well-being in older age. Findings suggest qualifications to the "well-being paradox", e.g.: only some dimensions of SWB remain stable, while others decline; across dimensions SWB change is more negative in old-old than in young-old age.

A growing literature shows that doing voluntary work not only helps the wider community but can also improve one's own well-being. To date, however, few studies have examined the relationship between volunteering and well-being in non-US and especially in comparative data. We study this relationship using two waves of data of 18,559 individuals aged 50 and above from 12 European countries. We analyze life satisfaction impacts of change and stability in volunteering status and in the intensity (frequency) of volunteering, and explore whether these impacts differ according to life stage (age, employment status) and across countries with different norms and supports for voluntarism. Findings show that net life satisfaction is higher among longer-term, recent, and former volunteers than among stable (long-term) non-volunteers. There are no significant life satisfaction differences between the three groups with volunteer experience. Equally, similar levels of life satisfaction are observed among people who have increased and decreased their frequency of volunteering. It thus seems to be the experience and not the dynamics (i.e., change or persistence) of volunteering that is associated with well-being. Findings further suggest life course variation in the association between volunteering and well-being, as the relationship is stronger for older and long-term non-employed (mostly retired) individuals than for their middle-aged and working counterparts. The relationship is also stronger in countries where volunteering is less common and less institutionally supported.