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Satisfaction with daily activities after retirement in Europe

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 February 2014

ERIC BONSANG  and
ARTHUR VAN SOEST
ERIC BONSANG*
Affiliation:
Netspar, Research Centre for Education and the Labour Market (ROA), Maastricht University, The Netherlands.
ARTHUR VAN SOEST
Affiliation:
Netspar, Department of Econometrics and Operations Research, Tilburg University, The Netherlands.
*
Address for correspondence: Eric Bonsang, Research Centre for Education and the Labour Market (ROA), Maastricht University, P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands. E-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

This paper analyses the determinants of satisfaction with daily activities among retirees aged 65 years or older in 11 European countries. We use data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe on self-assessed satisfaction with daily activities and anchoring vignettes to correct for potential differences in response scales across countries and socio-demographic groups. On average, retired Europeans appear to be satisfied with their daily activities, but there are large differences across countries: respondents from Northern countries tend to be more satisfied than individuals from Central European or Mediterranean countries. Our analysis shows that correcting for response scale differentials alters the country ranking for satisfaction with daily activities but hardly affects the conclusions on the factors driving within-country differences between socio-demographic groups.

Keywords

anchoring vignettesresponse scale differencesageing
Type
Articles
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 35 , Issue 6 , July 2015 , pp. 1146 - 1170
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

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