Well-BOA: Exploring a New Preference-Based Instrument to Compare Well-Being Across Older People

Veerle Van Loon and Koen Decancq

No 2404, Working Papers from Herman Deleeck Centre for Social Policy, University of Antwerp

Abstract: Well-being comparisons of older people are at the heart of many aging and social policies. This study introduces the ‘Well-Being at Older Age’ (Well-BOA) instrument, a new tool that allows policymakers to compare well-being across older people while respecting their preferences regarding the relative importance of six well- being dimensions: health, social relations, income, leisure, engagement, and religion. The Well-BOA instrument was validated through an online factorial survey experiment among individuals aged 50 years and older in the Flemish Region of Belgium. The results reveal that health, social relations, and income are crucial to older people’s well-being. Lower well-being was found among those with limited education and residing in larger households and the unemployed, single, and childless. The Well-BOA instrument had stronger associations with factors such as disability and financial difficulties than a subject measure based on life satisfaction and objective measurement that treats the six well-being dimensions as equally important. These differences underscore the implications of the choice of well-being. measure for policy design and evaluation

Date: 2024-09
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-age and nep-hap
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