Active Ageing: The Need to Address Sub-National Diversity. An Evidence-Based Approach for Italy

Marina Zannella, Andrea Principi, Davide Lucantoni, Francesco Barbabella, Mirko Di Rosa, Antía Domínguez-Rodríguez and Marco Socci
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Marina Zannella: Centre for Socio-Economic Research on Ageing, National Institute of Health and Science on Ageing (IRCCS INRCA), 60124 Ancona, Italy
Andrea Principi: Centre for Socio-Economic Research on Ageing, National Institute of Health and Science on Ageing (IRCCS INRCA), 60124 Ancona, Italy
Davide Lucantoni: Centre for Socio-Economic Research on Ageing, National Institute of Health and Science on Ageing (IRCCS INRCA), 60124 Ancona, Italy
Francesco Barbabella: Centre for Socio-Economic Research on Ageing, National Institute of Health and Science on Ageing (IRCCS INRCA), 60124 Ancona, Italy
Mirko Di Rosa: Unit of Geriatric Pharmacoepidemiology and Biostatistics, National Institute of Health and Science on Ageing (IRCCS INRCA), 60124 Ancona, Italy
Antía Domínguez-Rodríguez: Social Determinants of Health and Demographic Change-Opik (UPV/EHU) and ESOMI—Faculty of Sociology, University of a Coruña (UDC), 15008 Galicia, Spain
Marco Socci: Centre for Socio-Economic Research on Ageing, National Institute of Health and Science on Ageing (IRCCS INRCA), 60124 Ancona, Italy

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 24, 1-14

Abstract: While active ageing has emerged as a main strategy to address the challenges of population ageing in Europe, recent research has stressed the need to increase knowledge on within-country differences to promote active ageing through appropriate policy responses. This article draws on the Active Ageing Index (AAI) to capture recent trends in active ageing in Italy with a focus on sub-national diversity. To this end, we compute AAI breakdowns by region separately for men and women for four different years: 2007, 2009, 2012 and 2018. Then, we use linear regression to describe the geographical and sex-specific patterns of change in the AAI over the considered period. The results demonstrate the diversity of regional outcomes and trends in the active ageing of Italian men and women, indicating that the widening geographic gap deserves further consideration by national and regional authorities in designing and implementing active ageing policies. By showing the persistence of disparities in the value of the indicator to the disadvantage of women, results also suggest the need to further integrate both the gender dimension and the life-cycle perspective into active ageing strategies. This article provides an example of how the AAI can be used as a practical tool by policy makers to monitor active ageing trends and outcomes at the sub-national level, and to identify target areas that require further action.

Keywords: active ageing; Active Ageing Index; demographic dynamics; regional studies; gender; evidence-based policy; equity; sustainability (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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