Life course Influences on Inequalities in later life: comparative perspectives

27 July 2016

A special issue ‘Life Course Influences on Inequalities in Later Life: Comparative Perspectives’, edited by Professor Hal Kendig (CRAHW, ANU), and Professor James Nazroo (University of Manchester), has now been published in the Journal of Population Ageing (vol. 9, no.1-2, 2016).

The special issue focuses on outcomes in later life that are influenced by social advantages and disadvantages over the life course in different national contexts. It includes seven articles that examine the influence of different societal and policy developments over the post war period. Based on large longitudinal data sets (notably ELSA, HRS and SHARE), this special issue considers Australia, England, Germany, the United States and Europe-wide analyses:

  • Life Course Influences on Inequalities in Later Life: Comparative Perspectives (Editorial) (H. Kendig & J. Nazroo)
  • Trajectories in the Prevalence of Self-Reported Illness around Retirement (A. Marshall & J. Nazroo)
  • Pathways to Well-Being in Later Life: Socioeconomic and Health Determinants across the Life Course of Australian Baby Boomers (H. Kendig, V. Loh, K. O’Loughlin, J. Byles & J. Nazroo)
  • Work-Family Life Courses and Subjective Wellbeing in the MRC National Survey of Health and Development (the 1946 British birth cohort study) ( R. Lacey, M. Stafford, A. Sacker & A. McMunn)
  • Working Pensioners in Germany and the UK: Quantitative and Qualitative Evidence on Gender, Marital Status, and the Reasons for Working (A. Hokema & S. Scherger)
  • Linking Quality of Work in Midlife to Volunteering During Retirement: a European Study’ (M. Wahrendorf, D. Blane, K. Matthews & J. Siegrist)
  • Work and Family Trajectories: Changes across Cohorts Born in the First Half of the 20th Century (S. Scherger, J. Nazroo, & V. May)
  • Life Course Pathways to Later Life Wellbeing: A Comparative Study of the Role of Socio-Economic Position in England and the U.S. (B. Vanhoutee & J. Nazroo)

The project has been supported by the ARC Centre of Excellence in Population Ageing Research (CEPAR) and the papers were originally presented in a symposium presented at the International Sociology Association, Yokohama, Japan.

Work is continuing on Australia-England comparisons with the project due to be completed by the end of 2016 with publications continuing through 2017.