Active ageing typologies: A latent class analysis of the older Europeans

This chapter focuses on the social participation domain of the active ageing framework and considers participation in different care (e.g., to grandchildren) and non-care (e.g., voluntary work) activities. By using data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe and by applying Latent Class Analysis, the analyses identify three clusters of older people with similar patterns of social participation that vary by the type of activities in which they engage and the intensity of engagement. It is found that women are considerably more likely than men to belong to the group engaged in high intensive care. It is also found that people older than 76 years show high probabilities of not being engaged in social activities.