The state of well-being of older people: a comparative study across developing Asia

Rapid aging of populations in developing Asia calls for an in-depth understanding of the factors that determine the well-being of older people beyond the classic metrics such as income and poverty. We use a novel dataset of older individuals in nine countries across East Asia (the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of Korea); Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Viet Nam); and South Asia (Bangladesh and India), to examine the correlates of well-being in old age, as measured by life satisfaction and mental health screening test scores. Consistent with the prevailing literature across multiple disciplines, our findings emphasize that age is positively associated with well-being, while it negatively predicts ill-being in most countries. Other demographic characteristics such as gender, marital status, education level, residential area, and living arrangement do not show consistent patterns of association with well-being or ill-being in old age across countries. Beyond demographic characteristics, the findings from the existing literature point to four dimensions of well-being in old age: being productive through work, maintaining physical health and mobility, achieving retirement financial preparedness, and engaging actively in family and social life. Our results are aligned with this literature in that they predict higher life satisfaction and a reduction of depressive symptoms. However, the sign and magnitude of the associations vary substantially between countries, which are at different stages of population aging with heterogeneous cultural and institutional settings. Overall, we observe a relatively high incidence of depression and loneliness among older people in the region, which dampens indicators of well-being in later life, particularly among older women.