The timing of labour market exit differs among socio-economic groups, but the differences by employment history type are not yet well understood. Taking a lifecourse perspective, this study examines to what extent employment patterns from early to mid career are associated with the timing of labour market exit in Belgium. It uses retrospective data from Wave 7 of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) and applies sequence analysis and cluster analysis to identify five employment history types among 2,417 Belgian respondents aged 50–70: three characterised by continuous full-time work and differing with regard to their timing of labour market entry; the fourth characterised by continuous part-time work; and the fifth, considered the most vulnerable, characterised by discontinuous work. The study applies discrete-time survival analysis to estimate to what extent the timing of labour market exit differs by employment history type. Compared to the Discontinuous career-cluster (reference group), individuals in the Late entry, full-time work-cluster had lower odds of exiting the labour market at any age between 50 and 70, while individuals who also worked full-time almost continuously but entered the labour market early or medium-late had higher odds of exiting the labour market. The difference with the Part-time work-cluster is not statistically significant. The findings show substantial diversity in employment histories among Belgian older individuals and that employment history matters for the timing of labour market exit. In the context of changing retirement policies, ignoring the diversity in employment trajectories risks reinforcing existing social inequalities.

Maintaining optimal cognitive function is crucial for middle-aged and older adults. However, the lifecourse mechanisms linking parental religious affiliation to later-life cognition remain insufficiently understood. By integrating religious socialization theory and a lifecourse perspective, and using multiple waves of data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study, this study employed structural equation modelling to investigate how personal religious affiliation, educational attainment, healthy lifestyles and social participation mediated the lifecourse pathways linking parental religious affiliation to later-life cognition. The results indicated that parental religious affiliation was overall negatively associated with later-life cognitive function. Parental religious affiliation was linked to later-life cognitive function through independent indirect pathways via educational attainment and healthy lifestyles, as well as through serial indirect pathways involving personal religious affiliation. This overall negative association was driven mainly by education-related pathways, while the positive pathways through personal religious affiliation and healthy lifestyles were substantially smaller in magnitude. The pathways involving social participation were not significant. The findings shed light on the lifecourse mechanisms through which family religious background was associated with later-life cognitive function and underscore the importance of education in understanding cognitive inequality in China’s relatively secular context.

Population ageing and international migration are reshaping care systems and heightening the need for linguistically responsive models of support. This qualitative systematic review synthesizes evidence on how community-dwelling older migrants experience language-related barriers when accessing and using health, aged and community care. Using JBI meta-aggregation and PRISMA 2020 reporting, we identified 51 peer-reviewed qualitative studies published between 2004 and 2023, predominantly from anglophone destinations with selected North- and West-European comparators.

Four interrelated themes emerged – system, provider, societal and cultural factors – showing that language operates as a systems-level determinant of access rather than an individual ‘deficit’. Barriers included inaccessible information, inadequate interpreter provision, digital exclusion and care models misaligned with cultural expectations. Enablers included peer-led supports, tailored communication, shared language with providers and opportunities for language learning. These dynamics shaped autonomy, trust and engagement, with emotional consequences when communication failed. The review also flags risks from stereotyping (e.g. ‘happy migrant’, ‘exaggerating migrant’) and the limits of checklist-style ‘cultural competence’, pointing instead to practice grounded in cultural safety and structural competence.

Findings have implications for co-designed, linguistically responsive models that integrate interpreter quality, plain-language communication, digital and health literacy supports and community infrastructure. A concise theoretical frame – migration-systems and ecological (lifecourse) – helps explain how system, provider, societal and cultural layers interact to shape communication and access. The findings predominantly reflect the contexts and literature included (English-language publications from the settings noted); future research should examine non-English scholarship and other migration systems to extend applicability.

Intergenerational support plays a vital role in maintaining cognitive health among older adults. However, whether two-way intergenerational support offers greater protection of cognitive function compared with one-way support – either provided or received – remains poorly understood. Data were obtained from the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (CLHLS, 2011–2018). An ordered probit (Oprobit) model was used to estimate the effect of intergenerational support on cognitive function. Robustness was assessed using the instrumental variables with conditional mixed process (IV-CMP) method, and heterogeneity was examined by stratifying the data by residence and gender. Two-way financial, care-giving and emotional support significantly reduced the risk of cognitive impairment in older adults, particularly in severe cases. Two-way financial support was more effective than either support provided or received alone in reducing the risk of cognitive impairment, whereas two-way care-giving was less effective than providing care-giving support alone. Among the three types of two-way intergenerational support, two-way care-giving demonstrated the strongest protective effect against cognitive impairment in older adults, whereas two-way financial support exhibited the weakest. Finally, notable rural–urban and gender disparities were observed to influence intergenerational support on the risk of cognitive impairment, underscoring the need for targeted interventions to address cognitive decline across diverse demographic groups.The study highlights the protective effects of two-way intergenerational support on cognitive function among older Chinese adults and reveals variations across support types and demographic groups. The findings offer invaluable insights for promoting cognitive health in older adults.

Understanding the nature of informal care received by older adults, particularly from adult children, is increasingly important. Existing research has largely overlooked the diversity of care and support received by older adults. To address this gap, we draw on data from Wave 7 (2015–2017) of the UK Household Longitudinal Study to identify patterns of parental care receipt from adult children. Latent class analysis identified three classes and stratifying these classes according to whether older adults reported care needs revealed five groups: (1) comprehensive receivers, who receive high levels of support from their adult children across all care and support tasks; (2) moderate receivers with care needs, who primarily receive support with domestic tasks and report limitations in daily functioning; (3) moderate receivers without care needs, who receive the same patterns of support but without reported functional limitations; (4) low receivers with care needs, who receive minimal support from their adult children across care tasks but report limitations in daily functioning; (5) low receivers without care needs, those who don’t report functional limitations and receive minimal support. Multinomial logistic regression showed that comprehensive receivers were more likely to be older and living alone, whereas low receivers without care needs were younger and more likely to live with a partner. These patterns help identify groups of older adults at varying levels of vulnerability in meeting their future care needs, providing evidence to support policy makers in planning and evaluating care provision for an ageing population.

Unmet socio-emotional needs are a significant concern in ageing societies since they affect individuals’ health and wellbeing. This study focuses on the concept of socio-emotional care poverty, where people in need of social and emotional support do not receive sufficient support from either informal or formal sources. The research investigates whether older people have a higher, moderate or lower risk of socio-emotional care poverty. The study also explores how the composition of and the contact frequency with their social network members are associated with this phenomenon. This study used a national-level survey collected in Finland between October and December 2020 among people aged 75 years and above living in their own homes (N = 2,585). The results showed that 7 per cent (n = 175) of respondents are at high risk, while 26 per cent (n = 684) are at moderate risk of socio-emotional care poverty. The high-risk group has less frequent contact with children, siblings, relatives and friends. Relationships with both family and non-family members significantly impact socio-emotional care poverty in older people. Obtaining emotional support from family members or others outside of one’s immediate family in today’s society is becoming increasingly challenging owing to changing family structures and reduced health and social care support. Therefore, special attention should be given to older people in high-risk and moderate-risk groups to ensure that their basic care needs are met, allowing them to maintain a good quality of life.

The ageing population and skilled labour shortages have made Extended Working Lives (EWL) an important policy goal. However, millions of older workers leave the workforce each year because of an unsupportive work environment that is often associated with ageist practices and perceptions. Drawing on data from 25 qualitative interviews with individuals over the age of 55, the research uses a life course perspective to explore the impact of ageism over the working life course, finding that ageism continues to play a part in the decision-making processes of older workers when considering their future. The article presents a conceptual contribution through a dual framing of ageism in the workplace comprising two linked elements: structural factors and internalized ageism. Structural factors include tasks or events within the workplace that incite feelings of separation from younger peers, such as digital capability and social isolation. Internalized ageism refers to older workers’ self-evaluation of their identities, their abilities and their future. The findings suggest that these perceptions often contain ageist stereotypes. While categorized separately for analytical purposes, these two elements interact, with the organization of work affecting personal perceptions and these perceptions affecting structural factors within the workplace. This indicates that policies on older workers and EWL are hindered by ageism.

Social participation is a key determinant of health and wellbeing in later life, yet older adults at risk of marginalization often face barriers that limit their inclusion in society. To promote health equitably, it is essential to take better account of the heterogeneity of older adults and foster their social participation. This study thus aimed to describe and synthesize knowledge about interventions that foster the social participation of older adults at risk of marginalization. Using 61 keywords across six databases, this scoping review identified 29 studies reporting on individualized and collective interventions. Peer assistance and grouping older adults according to interests or shared life experience were identified as key facilitators of participation in the interventions. Limited access to transportation and a lack of activities tailored to the diverse needs of older participants were significant barriers. The findings highlight the importance of collaborating with community organizations to develop sustainable, accessible and adaptable interventions, as well as the value of proximity-based support in individualized approaches. Further studies are needed to evaluate the effectiveness of such interventions. By highlighting strategies to include marginalized older adults in society, this study contributes to advancing health equity for all older adults, especially those at risk of marginalization.

Over the past decades, many Western countries have struggled to meet increasing long-term-care (LTC) demands owing to population ageing. Long-term-care systems had to implement austerity measures, while family sizes have shrunk. This potentially places more pressure on adult children who might struggle to meet their parents’ care needs, even when they are willing and able to support them. However, it is unclear to what extent LTC policies impact on care-giving patterns of adult children. This asks for a comparison of filial care-giving across time periods. Therefore, the present study investigates to what extent the relationship between filial care-giving and characteristics of adult children, their siblings and their parents has changed between 2001 and 2023. To this end, data from two ancillary studies of the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam (LASA) were used, providing information about Dutch older adults’ health and support by their adult children. From the 2001 study, data from 220 parents and 830 children were included, and data from 115 parents and 288 children were included from the 2023 study. Results indicate that parents’ and siblings’ characteristics had overall comparable associations with filial care-giving in 2001 and 2023. However, the gender gap between adult sons’ and daughters’ care-giving has diminished over time. These findings suggest that, despite LTC changes, characteristics of parents, adult children and siblings played a similar role in filial care-giving, but a cultural shift towards more egalitarian distribution of care responsibilities between men and women emerged.

Despite the global spread of age-friendly cities and communities (AFCC), little is known about how these programmes address place-based inequalities. This article addresses this gap by applying a ‘spatial justice’ lens to examine AFCC initiatives in seven cities centred on the interrelated components of equity, diversity and co-production. It examines how older people participate in decision making (co-production), how resources and opportunities are distributed and accessed (equity) and how the identities and needs of diverse groups are recognised (diversity) within AFCC initiatives. The article uses a multiple case study approach to examine seven cities – Akita, Bilbao, Brno, Brussels, Manchester, Oslo and Quebec – drawing on city profiles and 44 semi-structured interviews with stakeholders. The findings show that co-production occurs through universal participation structures involving residents of all ages, and through targeted structures designed specifically for older people, with the latter placing greater emphasis on representing the increasing diversity of older people. Equity is addressed through initiatives aimed at improving access to local infrastructure and services, although their redistributive effects remain unknown owing to limited evaluation and data. Diversity is reflected in targeted programmes for racially minoritised groups, sexual and gender minorities and people living with dementia. This article contributes to critical social gerontology by showing how a spatial justice lens supports a critical examination of age-friendly initiatives (AFIs), focusing on how older people are involved in decision making, who benefits from AFIs and which groups of older people remain excluded.

As society becomes increasingly digital, greater attention is needed to understand how diverse ageing populations engage with technology and how digital platforms affect their health and wellbeing. This article examines the role of technology in supporting the social health of mid-life and older adults who identify as Two-Spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer or another non-cisgender or non-heterosexual identity (2SLGBTQ+). Thematic analysis of focus group data from 23 participants aged 50 and older living in Canada during the Covid-19 pandemic revealed how digital platforms helped participants manage their social health needs. While technology operated as a social health resource that enabled connection, intimacy and community participation during this global health crisis, participants also described losses associated with diminished visibility, uneven digital access that reinforced social inequities and physical and mental health challenges linked to prolonged and intensified technology use. Notably, some participants credited the resilience they developed during the AIDS epidemic for their ability to navigate technological and Covid-related challenges. Beyond its empirical contribution, this article theoretically develops the health equity promotion model with the addition of a technological dimension. The adapted model’s application to the Canadian context shows how technology functions simultaneously as a protective and a risk factor, impacting the social health and broader health outcomes of ageing 2SLGBTQ+ populations. By recognizing technology as a determinant of health in this model, this article advances queer gerontological theory and offers a framework for understanding and promoting health equity in ageing 2SLGBTQ+ populations, with implications for health promotion research and practice.

Loneliness is an important public health and social concern that affects individuals across the lifecourse. Research increasingly suggests that socio-economic conditions may shape vulnerability to loneliness in later life. Drawing on cross-sectional data from a national sample of Canadian older adults (N = 4,010), we apply structural equation modelling to examine associations among housing status, financial strain and loneliness. Older adults paying mortgages and renting report higher levels of loneliness and financial strain than outright homeowners. Financial strain is associated with greater loneliness, and the estimated indirect associations between housing status and loneliness through financial strain are statistically significant. Gender also intersects with housing status, with the result that exposure to financial strain among mortgage-payers is greater among women, leading to enhanced disadvantages in loneliness. This study demonstrates that effective strategies to combat loneliness among older adults must prioritize addressing socio-economic determinants, such as housing status and financial strain, in addition to fostering social connections.

Universalism has long been the cornerstone of long-term care (LTC) provision in Nordic welfare states. However, population ageing has led to a decline in public care services, prompting some service users to seek support from alternative sources, such as privately financed and informal care. This raises concerns about increasing inequities between those with access to financial and social resources and those without. We take a novel approach to examine whether reductions in public care have exacerbated inequities in a central care outcome: Social Care-Related Quality of Life (SCRQoL), assessed via the Adult Social Care Outcomes Toolkit (ASCOT). Drawing on comprehensive registry and survey data, we explore the relationship between service users’ social and financial resources and their SCRQoL. Specifically, we investigate whether disparities in SCRQoL between service users with and without resources have grown over time. Our findings reveal limited evidence for social and financial resources contributing to service users’ SCRQoL and no evidence of increasing inequity over time. These findings suggest that service users do not mobilize financial assets or family networks to compensate for retrenchment in public services. Instead, our results underline that physical functioning and social participation are crucial for sustaining SCRQoL. As pressure on public LTC services is expected to intensify over the next two decades, resource-related disparities in SCRQoL may become more pronounced, meaning that preserving and enhancing older adults’ functioning and SCRQoL through preventive strategies and reablement interventions should remain a key policy priority.

Rising long-term care (LTC) costs and population ageing have shaped LTC policies, emphasizing ‘ageing in place’. This may have changed the composition of the care networks as well as the wellbeing of older adults living at home. This study examines changes in the prevalence of care networks (no care, partner care, informal care, publicly provided formal care and privately paid care) and the associations between care networks and psychological wellbeing across three decades (1992–2022) of LTC policy and societal changes. Using 5,496 observations from 3,999 participants in the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam, multi-level regression analyses were conducted, controlling for age, sex, partner status and physical and cognitive functioning. Findings show that, since 2012, formal care and no care usage increased, while use of partner, informal and privately paid care declined. Formal care users reported more depressive symptoms, with the gap between formal and no care users widening in 2012 and 2022. In conclusion, our study highlights the robustness of associations between care networks and wellbeing over time. Formal care, however, is increasingly negatively related to wellbeing, underscoring the need for improved formal care provision and a deeper understanding of its broader impact on wellbeing.

Spousal death is a common and disruptive later life event, yet how resilience unfolds afterwards remains insufficiently understood, particularly from older adults’ perspectives. Resilience research utilizes the metaphor of ‘bouncing forward’ to describe navigating adversity, but how it relates to older adults’ experiences of spousal loss and the everyday conditions in which resilience takes shape remains unclear. To address these conceptual gaps, this study examines how older adults make sense of resilience after spousal loss, what supports or hinders it in daily life and how their experiences relate to ‘bouncing forward’. It uses participatory action research and was part of a larger Dutch project (2023–2025) conducted in three municipalities (one rural, two urban), exploring everyday resilience and loss.

Interview findings are presented using low-inference qualitative description, staying close to participants’ and co-researchers’ own language. They illustrate how resilience is experienced as a non-linear, multi-dimensional process across life domains such as health, social life and daily routines. This involves alternating periods of improvement, setback and stillness. These possibilities are opened up, restricted or suspended by personal orientations, close relationships, material environments and institutional responses. Clark’s holonic framework and Arendt’s theories of action and natality help interpret these changes as expansions, contractions and pauses across personal, relational and institutional contexts, clarifying how new beginnings can become possible or remain out of reach. The study offers a situational and relational account of resilience after spousal loss and identifies conditions that enable or restrict older adults’ efforts to navigate everyday life.

Older migrants from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds are vulnerable to social isolation in the settlement country. While a few reviews have examined social isolation and loneliness in older people, there remains a notable gap in evidence specifically focused on social isolation among older migrants. Considering the distinction between social isolation and loneliness, this review aims to synthesise literature on the prevalence and experience of social isolation, identify risk factors, and explore interventions used in these populations. A scoping review underpinned by Arksey and O’Malley’s five-stage framework was conducted. We searched five databases from inception to May 2025. A random-effects meta-analysis model using the DerSimonian and Laird method was applied to pool prevalence estimates. Risk factors were mapped according to Mcleroy’s socio-ecological model. Of the 5,094 publications identified, 27 were included. Pooled data indicated that social isolation affected 25.2 per cent (95% CI, 19.0–31.9%) of older migrants, with migration-related disruption to social networks at 27.4 per cent (95% CI, 14.9–41.9%) and family isolation at 20.4 per cent (95% CI, 18.0–23.0%). Factors associated with social isolation at the individual, interpersonal, community and environmental levels were identified, along with approaches that reduce social isolation targeted at these levels. Among older migrants, limited language proficiency and lack of familial support emerged as the key individual and interpersonal-level contributors. Findings reveal the need for further research focused on addressing individual-level risk factors, involving family members, and employing rigorous methodology in evaluating effectiveness of interventions.

In response to calls to extend working lives, there is increased interest in people starting self-employment after the age of 50. However, the question of why people become self-employed at this time is generally assumed in the literature rather than empirically examined. Current assumptions include that it relates to (1) opportunity or necessity; (2) changes in autonomy preferences relating to the ageing process; or (3) entrepreneurial aspirations. This article empirically explores the pathways into self-employment and develops a theoretical model to better answer the question why people move into ‘solo’ self-employment after age 50. Using a sociological lifecourse theory, it demonstrates how transitions into self-employment are socially embedded and influenced by events preceding the transition. The 20 in-depth lifecourse interviews with people aged 50+ identified three pathways to self-employment after 50: a ‘turning point’ pathway, a ‘retirement’ pathway and an ‘entrepreneurial orientation’ pathway. The turning point pathway was most common, involving negative changes at work or in health and/or the family that appeared to generate or enhance a desire, or need, for more autonomy at work that was difficult to find as an employee. Crucially, ‘linked lives’ and ‘life stage’ provided an opportunity structure that made the move into self-employment feasible, by de-risking it and providing opportunities. The article contributes to academic and policy debates by highlighting the importance of changes over the lifecourse and support from others, and questions the extent to which these transitions can be attributed to the individual ageing process or to (long-term) entrepreneurial aspirations.

Social connections are central to wellbeing, with both close social ties and casual acquaintances shaping the health of older adults. Yet, their specific roles in influencing care-giver burden remain under-explored. Using data from the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP) (2005–2023), we examined how core social networks and social engagement are associated with care-giver burden among 468 older adult care-givers. Core social networks are composed of confidants with whom respondents have discussed important matters, which can include close friends, relatives and spouses. Meanwhile, social engagement (e.g. volunteering, participation in organized groups and church attendance) involves interactions with many different casual acquaintances. These two different types of social connectedness may be differentially associated with care-giver wellbeing. Our findings revealed a paradox: larger core social networks were associated with greater odds of care-giver burden, whereas all forms of social engagement – volunteering, group meetings and religious attendance – reduced the odds of reporting care-giver burden. Higher levels of social engagement, such as having more friends or more frequent participation in social activities, similarly reduced the odds of reporting care-giver burden. Diverse engagement across multiple activities also lowered the likelihood of experiencing care-giver burden. These results suggest that care-giver burden may be shaped not only by the size of one’s core network but also by the breadth and frequency of social participation, particularly in settings that foster casual social ties.

This study examined the association between supportive and adverse aspects of the child–parent relationship in childhood (parental understanding and exposure to parental physical abuse, respectively) and providing care to a parent with health limitations among middle-aged and older adults. It explores whether these associations vary across broad macro-geographical regions, through the prism of the Informal Care Model. Data were drawn from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), Waves 7 and 9. The subsamples comprised respondents aged 50 years and older, 2,970 with an unhealthy mother and 890 with an unhealthy father. The degree of maternal understanding in childhood was positively associated with providing care to a mother, but not to a father. Frequency of parental physical abuse (for mothers and fathers) was unrelated to providing care. Interaction analyses indicated regional variations in associations between maternal physical abuse and providing care to mothers, and between paternal understanding and providing care to fathers. Taken together, providing care was more strongly associated with childhood relationship characteristics in regions typically characterized by more established long-term care policies and weaker familistic norms. The findings underscore the need to support adult children care-givers, particularly those who perceived their childhood relationship with their parent as negative. Support efforts may be especially important in contexts where care-giving relies more heavily on family resources and formal long-term care is more limited. Further research should focus on differences in the mechanisms linking early parent–child relationships to care-giving for mothers versus fathers.

The built environment is increasingly recognized as being associated with health outcomes among older adults. This study examines how multiple housing features collectively are associated with self-rated health in the United States. Using data from Round 12 of the National Health and Aging Trends Study (n = 930), multiple correspondence analysis combined housing type, residential setting and building floors into a composite measure of residential complexity. Ordinal logistic regression models, adjusted for age, sex, education, race and functional capacity, assessed associations with self-rated health, including age and sex interactions. Higher residential complexity was linked to poorer self-rated health (β = –0.249, p < 0.001), but this relationship became non-significant after adjusting for socio-economic and health factors (β = –0.065, p = 0.148). A significant interaction with age revealed a clear gradient (p < 0.001). The adverse association was negligible in those aged 65–69 (β = −0.02, p = 0.812) but substantially stronger in the oldest-old: for example, in 85+ it was (β = −0.31, p < 0.001). There was no significant interaction with sex (p = 0.552). Grounded in person–environment fit theory, findings underscore the need for housing policies that integrate structural accessibility with socio-economic supports.