Global mapping of dependency in older people

Maira Colacce (), Julia Córdoba (), Alejandra Marroig (), Graciela Muniz-Terrera () and Guillermo Sánchez-Laguarda ()
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Maira Colacce: Universidad de la República (Uruguay). Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y de Administración. Instituto de Economía
Julia Córdoba: Universidad de la República (Uruguay). Facultad de Psicología
Alejandra Marroig: Universidad de la República (Uruguay). Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y de Administración. Instituto de Economía
Graciela Muniz-Terrera: Ohio University
Guillermo Sánchez-Laguarda: Universidad de la República (Uruguay). Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y de Administración. Instituto de Economía

No 24-03, Documentos de Trabajo (working papers) from Instituto de Economía - IECON

Abstract: This paper addresses the geographical differences in the prevalence of dependency in older adults and its differences by demographic characteristics (gender and age) within and across countries. We estimate internationally comparable dependency indicators for 31 countries in 4 continents with available information on help requirements in Activities of Daily Living for people aged 65 and older. The main indicator includes three activities: bathing, eating, and dressing. The highest level of dependency is found in Israel (18.5%) and the lower in Switzerland (5.5%). Dependency rates are almost always higher for women than for men, but sex differences only appear in people aged 80+ and statistically country differences blur for those aged 65-79. Our analysis supports the male-female survival paradox for dependency. The differences found in the prevalence regarding the family of surveys is a strong argument for the international harmonization of the formulation of the dependency questions.

Keywords: activities of daily living; need for help; SHARE; HRS; ageing measures (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C89 I10 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 22 pages
Date: 2024-03
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-age
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https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12008/43675

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ulr:wpaper:dt-03-24

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