Subjective Well-being at Old Ages: Does Educational Background Matter?

Abstract

Given the trend of demographic transition and population ageing around the world, improving the welfare of older persons has become a key policy issue. The study employed Vietnam National Ageing Survey 2011, which is the first nationally representative survey of older persons in Vietnam. We used ordered-logistic regression to study the relationship between level of education and subjective well-being in terms of two affective factors (degree of happiness and loneliness) in later life of Vietnamese. Both bivariate and multivariate analyses showed that education has a strong positive relationship with happiness. Similarly, education has positive effects on older persons in terms of loneliness. In other words, older persons with higher education tend to be less lonely. Other factors, such as marital status, region lived in the most, being member of a poor household, feeling there is sufficient income or material support, total number of daughters, living arrangement, difficulty in daily life activities, gender, and self-rated health compared to other older persons, have strong relationship with these two types of subjective well-being among Vietnamese older persons. On the other hand, age group, religion, working status, providing financial support to kin or relatives, being member of Vietnamese Elderly Association, total numbers of sons, place of residence (urban/rural), and having grandchild show insignificant relationship with subjective well-being amongst older persons. These findings have implications for policymakers to formulate national strategy for mental health care across the lifespan, coupled with education and vocational training, which can contribute to a productive and successful ageing in Vietnam.

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Author Information
Truc Ngoc Hoang Dang, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand
Pataporn Sukontamarn, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand

• Category: Education and Social Welfare

Posted by James Alexander Gordon

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