Determinants of Life Satisfaction in Older Russians

Analysis of life satisfaction of the older population in Russia based on the RLMS-HSE microdata

“…Still, some of our results differ from those previously published by other authors. Having children increases life satisfaction among older women, which is inconsistent with other results (Kolosnitsyna et al 2017;Meggiolaro and Ongaro 2013). This difference might probably be explained by the frequency and quality of communication with the children.…”

“…Thus, high income and job availability have a positive effect on life satisfaction of older people in Russia (Fernández-Ballesteros et al 2001;Hao 2008). At the same time, the level of education has no significant impact on the level of subjective well-being (Kolosnitsyna et al 2017). Marital status has a significant impact on life satisfaction, in particular married older women feel much happier (Buber and Engelhardt 2008;Voronin et al 2018).…”

“…One of the local studies of the life satisfaction level of older persons (Kolosnitsyna et al 2017) analyzes the influence of different groups of factors on the subjective well-being of individuals of retirement age. The authors hypothesized that life satisfaction of Russians in older ages depends on the following variables: gender, age, place of residence (type of settlement), health, education, income, employment, social status and family characteristics.…”

The U Shape of Happiness Across the Life Course: Expanding the Discussion

“…Table 1 reveals that several cross-sectional studies documented a U shape using life satisfaction, the Cantril ladder, and happiness items (Beja, 2018; Cheng et al, 2015; Daroudi, Rashidian, Zeraati, Oliyaeemanesh, & Sari, 2016; Graham & Pozuelo, 2017; Grover & Helliwell, 2019; Lin, 2016; Ruseski, Humphreys, Hallman, Wicker, & Breuer, 2014; Schwandt, 2016), but others found mixed evidence. That is, the shape (and associated nadirs and peaks) of the age-happiness connection varied depending on the country and region of the world (Bauer, Levin, Boudet, Nie, & Sousa-Poza, 2017; Laaksonen, 2018; Morgan, Robinson, & Thompson, 2015; Steptoe et al, 2015), whether control variables such as education and marital status were included in the analyses (Blanchflower & Oswald, 2019; Ferrante, 2017; Hellevik, 2017), year or period of time when the surveys were administered (Kolosnitsyna, Khorkina, & Dorzhiev, 2017; Olaroiu, Alexa, & van den Heuvel, 2017), and gender (Kolosnitsyna et al, 2017; Laaksonen, 2018). Some studies found a U shape, but the low point was outside of the typical range of midlife (defined as 40–60 years of age; Freund & Ritter, 2009), for example, in the 30s (Laaksonen, 2018; Li, 2016) or up to age 70 (Kolosnitsyna et al, 2017).…”

“…That is, the shape (and associated nadirs and peaks) of the age-happiness connection varied depending on the country and region of the world (Bauer, Levin, Boudet, Nie, & Sousa-Poza, 2017; Laaksonen, 2018; Morgan, Robinson, & Thompson, 2015; Steptoe et al, 2015), whether control variables such as education and marital status were included in the analyses (Blanchflower & Oswald, 2019; Ferrante, 2017; Hellevik, 2017), year or period of time when the surveys were administered (Kolosnitsyna, Khorkina, & Dorzhiev, 2017; Olaroiu, Alexa, & van den Heuvel, 2017), and gender (Kolosnitsyna et al, 2017; Laaksonen, 2018). Some studies found a U shape, but the low point was outside of the typical range of midlife (defined as 40–60 years of age; Freund & Ritter, 2009), for example, in the 30s (Laaksonen, 2018; Li, 2016) or up to age 70 (Kolosnitsyna et al, 2017). One study found a wave shape with the lowest point at age 23 in a model without controls (Blanchflower & Oswald, 2019).…”