Howard Litwin

This study examined whether the social networks of older persons in Mediterranean and non-Mediterranean countries were appreciably different and whether they functioned in similar ways in relation to well-being outcomes. The sample included family household respondents aged 60 years and older from the first wave of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe in 5 Mediterranean (n = 3,583) and 7 non-Mediterranean (n = 5,471) countries. Region was regressed separately by gender on variables from 4 network domains: structure and interaction, exchange, engagement and relationship quality, and controlling for background and health characteristics. In addition, 2 well-being outcomes—depressive symptoms and perceived income inadequacy—were regressed on the study variables, including regional social network interaction terms. The results revealed differences across the 2 regional settings in each of the realms of social network, above and beyond the differences that exist in background characteristics and health status. The findings also showed that the social network variables had different effects on the well-being outcomes in the respective settings. The findings underscore that the social network phenomenon is contextually bound. The social networks of older people should be seen within their unique regional milieu and in relation to the values and social norms that prevail in different sets of societies.

This study examined whether formal care services delivered to frail older people's homes in France and Israel substitute for or complement informal support. The two countries have comparable family welfare systems but many historical, cultural and religious differences. Data for the respondents aged 75 or more years at the first wave of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) were analysed. Regressions were examined of three patterns of care fromoutsidethe household: informal support only, formal support only and both formal and informal care, with the predictor variables including whether informal help was provided by a family member living in the household. The results revealed that about one-half of the respondents received no help at all (France 51%, Israel 55%), about one-tenth received care from a household member (France 8%, Israel 10%), and one-third were helped by informal carers from outside the household (France 34%, Israel 33%). More French respondents (35%) received formal care services at home than Israelis (27%). Most predictors of the care patterns were similar in the two countries. The analysis showed that complementarity is a common outcome of the co-existence of formal and informal care, and that mixed provision occurs more frequently in situations of greater need. It is also shown that spouse care-givers had less formal home-care supports than either co-resident children or other family care-givers. Even so, spouses, children and other family care-givers all had considerable support from formal home-delivered care.

The aim of this study was to examine the net balance of transfers between persons aged 50 and older and their family, taking into account both the exchange of money and the exchange of practical assistance (time). Toward this end, a unique net balance outcome measure was computed by costing the value of time transfers into wage equivalents. The study made use of data from the first wave of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), and focused upon intergenerational exchange in two specific countries: Germany and Israel. The descriptive findings show that—up to an age of about 80 years—the elderly are net providers of help. The outcome variable was next regressed on a set of relevant predictors identified in the literature on intergenerational transfers and support—among them, sociodemographic background, health, social policy, social network and motivation variables. Holding these variables constant, the balance pattern by age remains valid: respondents aged 50–79 in both settings contributed to their family more than they received. These trends in net transfer exchanges were largely similar across both countries and across regions or population groups within both countries. Women were more likely to have a positive net exchange balance and poorer health was associated with net receiving. However, differences also emerged: social capital was more clearly associated with a positive exchange balance in Israel, transfer motivations shaped transfer behaviors in Germany but not in Israel, and socioeconomic variables seemed to work in opposite directions in the two countries. In sum, the results underscore the generally positive contribution of older people to intergenerational exchange in the family. This outcome holds for both Germany and Israel despite their very different conditions of context.

The aim of the inquiry was to examine the social network–mortality association within a wider multivariate context that accounts for the effects of background framing forces and psychobiological pathways. The inquiry was based upon the Berkman et al. (2000) conceptual model of the determinants of health. Its main purpose was to identify the salient network correlates of 7-year all cause mortality among Jewish men and women, aged 70 and over, in Israel (n = 1,811). The investigation utilized baseline data from a national household survey of older adults from 1997 that was linked to records from the National Death Registry, updated through 2004. At the time of the study, 38% of the sample had died. Multivariate Cox hazard regressions identified two main network-related components as predictors of survival: contact with friends, a social network interaction variable, and attendance at a synagogue, a social engagement variable. Friendship ties are seen to uniquely reduce mortality risk because they are based on choice in nature, and reflect a sense of personal control. Synagogue attendance is seen to promote survival mainly through its function as a source of communal attachment and, perhaps, as a reflection of spirituality as well. Other possibly network-related correlates of mortality were also noted in the current analysis—the receipt of instrumental support and the state of childlessness.

It has been claimed, but not empirically supported, that early retirement leads to longer life. The present investigation addressed this question using data from a 1997 Israeli national household survey of adults aged 60 or more years linked to mortality records from the national death registry, for 2004. The study examined the association between early retirement and seven-year all-cause mortality among the population of older Jewish Israelis who were employed prior to or at baseline (N=2,374). Both the timing of retirement and the reasons for exit from the labour force were considered in the analysis. The initial hazard regression models, adjusted by gender and reason for retirement including poor health, showed that early retirees indeed had lower mortality risk ratios than respondents who had retired ‘on time’. When additional variables were controlled in the final analytic model, however, the association between early retirement and mortality was not supported. Older age, male gender, and having been diagnosed with one or more of five major illnesses were all associated with greater risk for mortality. Medium level education and being employed at baseline were associated with lesser mortality risk. Nevertheless, the timing of retirement, viz. early versus normative exit from the workforce, was not related to survival. In sum, the respondents who had prematurely exited the labour force did not benefit from disproportionately longer lives when compared with the respondents who retired ‘on time’.

The purpose of this inquiry was to test a path model that explains how sociodemographic background characteristics, functional health state, social network structure, and extent of activity affect well-being among elderly Arab Israelis, a population in transition from an agrarian to a modern culture. Using data from a national survey, the study revealed that respondents’ morale was negatively associated with functional disability and positively associated with social network and activity level. Disability was predicted by lower income and education, older age, and female gender. Activity level was predicted by low disability, male gender, education, and social network. The study results provide support for the contention that the path to successful aging is universal. However, the results also suggest that within the general path to a good old age one can find culturally unique characteristics. In the case of older Arab Israelis, these included belonging to community- and family-oriented network structures and engaging in socially oriented activity.

This paper reports a study of the complex associations between older people's participation in activities and their wellbeing in later life using data from a national sample of 1,334 Jewish-Israeli retirees. Confirmatory factor analysis substantiated a division of the activities into solitary, formal and informal categories, as postulated by activity theory. The outcome measure, the latent construct wellbeing, was compiled from scores on the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12), a global measure of life satisfaction, and a measure of satisfaction with the use of time. The analysis also examined the influence of socio-economic status, health status and the quality of inter-personal relationships. ‘Social relationship quality’, also a latent construct, was a composite of measures of satisfaction with children, friends and neighbours and a self-rated loneliness scale. Path analysis using structural equation modelling was employed. The results showed that when the quality of social relationships was taken into account, the amount of activity had no independent effect on the respondents' wellbeing. Moreover, it was social relationship quality, a facet of informal activity that has generally been neglected in activity research, that emerged as the most influential variable in the association between activity and wellbeing. Thus, the findings provide empirical backing for the assertion that the quality of social ties matters more than activity participation per se as predictors of a good old age.

The analysis compared differing correlates of life satisfaction among three diverse population groups in Israel, examining background and health status variables, social environment factors, and activity indicators. Multiple regression analysis revealed that veteran Jewish-Israelis ( n = 2,043) had the largest set of predictors, the strongest of which was health status. Among Arab-Israelis ( n = 609), social visitation served as a significant base for life satisfaction. The predictors among the new immigrant group ( n = 751) reflected the search for social ties beyond the immediate family. The analysis underscores the universal basis of successful aging, especially the contribution of health status. However, it also clarifies that the specific components of some of the general categories of predictors work in different ways among different population groups.