Does labour market disadvantage help to explain why childhood circumstances are related to quality of life at older ages? Results from SHARE

Figures & data

Table 1. Sample description: percentages and frequencies (N) or mean scores and standard deviation (SD) for men and women (N = 10,271).

		Men N = 4808		Women N = 5463
Variables	Categories or range	% or (mean)	N or (SD)	% or (mean)	N or (SD)
CASP	0–36	25.5	(6.1)	24.9	(6.3)
Age	50–80	68.9	(6.3)	66.9	(7.1)
Partner	At 30 and 50	79.3	3812	83.8	4580
	At 30 but not 50	2.7	131	5	273
	Not at 30 but 50	12.9	620	5.9	323
	Not at 30 and 50	5.1	245	5.3	287
Functional limitations	Not limited	57.5	2766	52.5	2876
	Limited	42.5	2042	47.5	2596
Education	Low	46.8	2251	53.0	2898
	Medium	34.1	1638	33.4	1823
	High	19.1	919	13.6	742
Childhood circumstances	Most advantaged	4.8	231	4.5	247
	Advantaged	15.1	724	16.5	902
	Neutral	29.4	1415	33.7	1844
	Disadvantaged	27.3	1312	25.7	1402
	Most disadvantaged	23.4	1126	19.5	1068
Labour market disadvantage	None	23.6	1134	13.6	741
	Mild	57.5	2763	68.5	3742
	Moderate	15.1	726	14.0	766
	Severe	3.3	161	3.5	192
	Very severe	0.5	24	0.4	22

Figure 1. Quality of life by childhood circumstances and labour market disadvantage for men (N = 4808) and women (N = 5463).

Note: Dashed line presents overall averages in quality of life for men and women.

Figure 2. Percentages of labour market disadvantage by childhood circumstances for men (N = 4808) and women (N = 5463).

Table 2. Multilevel estimates for quality of life in older ages for women: regression coefficients (b) and standard errors (SE) (N = 5463).

				Model 1		Model 2		Model 3		Model 4
Model		Empty model		b	(SE)	b	(SE)	b	(SE)	b	(SE)
Fixed parameters
Age				1.21***	(0.19)	1.09***	(0.18)	1.14***	(0.19)	0.76***	(0.18)
Age square				−0.01***	(0.00)	−0.01***	(0.00)	−0.01***	(0.00)	−0.01***	(0.00)
Partner	At 30 and 50			–		–		–		–
	At 30 but not 50			−2.14***	(0.35)	−2.08***	(0.35)	−2.16***	(0.35)	−2.03***	(0.33)
	Not at 30 but 50			−0.95**	(0.32)	−0.84**	(0.32)	−0.96**	(0.32)	−0.89**	(0.30)
	Not at 30 and 50			−1.28***	(0.34)	−1.17***	(0.34)	−1.29***	(0.34)	−1.19***	(0.32)
Childhood circumstances	Most advantaged (ref.)			–				–		–
	Advantaged			−0.29	(0.40)			−0.11	(0.40)	−0.05	(0.38)
	Neutral			−0.60	(0.38)			−0.27	(0.39)	−0.10	(0.37)
	Disadvantaged			−1.36***	(0.39)			−0.94*	(0.40)	−0.35	(0.38)
	Most disadvantaged			−2.08***	(0.42)			−1.60***	(0.42)	−0.81*	(0.41)
Labour market disadvantage	None (ref.)					–		–		–
	Mild					−1.52***	(0.23)	−1.23***	(0.23)	−0.54*	(0.24)
	Moderate					−1.67***	(0.29)	−1.37***	(0.30)	−0.72*	(0.30)
	Severe					−2.46***	(0.44)	−2.12***	(0.44)	−1.26**	(0.43)
Functional limitations	Not limited									–
	Limited									−3.84***	(0.15)
Education	Low									–
	Medium									0.69***	(0.18)
	High									1.16***	(0.27)
Random parameters
Level 1: within country		5.69***	(0.05)	5.60***	(0.05)	5.60***	(0.05)	5.58***	(0.05)	5.24***	(0.05)
Level 2: between country		2.67***	(0.53)	2.51***	(0.50)	2.73***	(0.54)	2.54***	(0.50)	2.53***	(0.50)
Statistics
(level 1)				.033		.033		.039		.152
(level 2)				.120		−.042		.101		.105
Log likelihood		−17,284.75		−17,192.64		−17,194.52		−17,174.42		−16,830.68
AIC		34,575.50		34,409.28		34,411.04		34,378.84		33,697.37
BIC		34,595.32		34,488.55		34,483.71		34,477.93		33,816.27

Note: The ICC of the empty model is 0.18. *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001.

Table 3. Multilevel estimates for quality of life in older ages for men: regression coefficients (b) and standard errors (SE) (N = 4808).

				Model 1		Model 2		Model 3		Model 4
Model		Empty Model		b	(SE)	b	(SE)	b	(SE)	b	(SE)
Fixed parameters
Age				1.49***	(0.24)	1.28***	(0.24)	1.33***	(0.24)	0.87***	(0.22)
Age square				−0.01***	(0.00)	−0.01***	(0.00)	−0.01***	(0.00)	−0.01***	(0.00)
Partner	At 30 and 50			–		–		–		–
	At 30 but not 50			−0.73	(0.49)	−0.53	(0.49)	−0.61	(0.49)	−0.57	(0.46)
	Not at 30 but 50			−0.14	(0.24)	−0.11	(0.24)	−0.14	(0.24)	−0.07	(0.23)
	Not at 30 and 50			−0.99**	(0.36)	−0.87*	(0.36)	−0.90*	(0.36)	−0.89**	(0.34)
Childhood circumstances	Most advantaged (ref.)			–				–		–
	Advantaged			−0.21	(0.42)			−0.12	(0.41)	−0.10	(0.39)
	Neutral			−0.57	(0.39)			−0.37	(0.39)	−0.29	(0.37)
	Disadvantaged			−1.28**	(0.40)			−0.97*	(0.40)	−0.48	(0.39)
	Most disadvantaged			−1.89***	(0.42)			−1.52***	(0.42)	−0.89*	(0.41)
Labour market disadvantage	None (ref.)					–		–		–
	Mild					−1.04***	(0.20)	−0.77***	(0.21)	−0.22	(0.21)
	Moderate					−1.32***	(0.27)	−1.04***	(0.27)	−0.58*	(0.26)
	Severe					−2.59***	(0.44)	−2.30***	(0.45)	−1.63***	(0.43)
Functional limitations	Not limited									–
	Limited									−3.76***	(0.15)
Education	Low
	Medium									1.07***	(0.19)
	High									1.08***	(0.25)
Random parameters
Level 1: within country		5.55***	(0.06)	5.49***	(0.06)	5.49***	(0.06)	5.47***	(0.06)	5.14***	(0.05)
Level 2: between country		2.42***	(0.48)	2.16***	(0.43)	2.34***	(0.47)	2.16***	(0.43)	2.10***	(0.42)
Statistics
(level 1)				.020		.021		.027		.141
(level 2)				.201		.062		.201		.247
Log likelihood		−15,085.98		−15,036.44		−15,035.61		−15,019.49		−14,719.39
AIC		30,177.97		30,096.88		30,093.22		30,068.99		29,474.78
BIC		30,197.40		30,174.62		30,164.48		30,166.16		29,591.38

Note: The ICC of the empty model is 0.16. *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001.

Figure 3. Childhood circumstances and quality of life in older ages: multilevel estimates and confidence intervals (95%) for men (N = 4808) and women (N = 5463).

Note: Estimates are based on Models 1 and 3 from Tables 2 and 3.