A research framework for the United Nations Decade of Healthy Ageing (2021–2030)

The mission of UN Decade of Healthy Ageing (2020–2030) is to improve the lives of older people, their families and their communities. In this paper, we create a conceptual framework and research agenda for researchers to knowledge to address the Decade action items. The framework builds on the main components of healthy ageing: Environments (highlighting society and community) across life courses (of work and family) toward wellbeing (of individuals, family members and communities). Knowledge gaps are identified within each area as priority research actions. Within societal environments, interrogating beliefs about ageism and about familism are proposed as a way to illustrate how macro approaches to older people influence their experiences. We need to interrogate the extent to which communities are good places to grow old; and whether they have sufficient resources to be supportive to older residents. Further articulation of trajectories and turning points across the full span of work and of family life courses is proposed to better understand their diversities and the extent to which they lead to adequate financial and social resources in later life. Components of wellbeing are proposed to monitor improvement in the lives of older people, their families and communities. Researcher priorities can be informed by regional and national strategies reflecting Decade actions.

A Chinese Second Demographic Transition? A Holistic Approach to Family Life Courses

Family formation in China has undergone dramatic changes. Despite increasing academic attention, few studies have taken a holistic approach to study cohort change in Chinese family life courses. In this study, we assess how family life course patterns, complexity, and diversity have changed across birth cohorts. Moreover, we evaluate whether changing norms, economic constraints, or institutional reforms are driving cohort differences. Data from the China Family Panel Studies and sequence analysis are applied to identify family life course patterns and to calculate sequence complexity and diversity. While we found a shift in family life course patterns across nearly a century of birth cohorts, there is no evidence that Chinese family lives have become more complex or diverse. To the contrary, our results demonstrate that family life courses have become less complex and are relatively standardized around marriage and a single child. We find that factors associated with economic constraints – not ideational change or institutional reforms – account for a considerable portion of cross-cohort variation in diversity and complexity. Rather than a second demographic transition, Chinese family demographic behaviour is marked by continuity despite change.

Social inequality, the welfare state, and successful ageing

Social inequality is one of the major challenges for successful ageing, and the welfare state may alleviate some of the unjust and unfair allocations of resources within a population. Socio-economic differences between individuals permeate life courses from conception to death. The concept of ‘inequality’ points to vertical differences between individuals in connection with unevenly distributed access to goods and resources of value, such as education, prestige, income, and wealth. The disposal of valued resources draws the line between those who have and those who have not. Important facets of social inequality are education, income, wealth, gender, and race. Considering diversity and inequality in a population, welfare states reveal themselves as central actors in shaping requirements for successful ageing.