Social capital and health among older europeans: evidences from the survey on health and retirement in Europe (Share)

The debate on ageing in Europe is currently paying considerable attention to the social and economic implications of demographic trends. Central to the discussion surrounding the extension of active lifespan is the state of health of elderly, where “health” refers to the physical, mental and social well being. The European Union has recently stressed the importance of maintaining autonomy and independence for older people, as a key goal in the policy framework for active ageing . While physical and mental health are crucial in this context, there are numerous determinants of healthy and active ageing that lie beyond the health system, having direct or indirect effects on health. In this light, the relationship between social capital and health is capturing the attention of an increasing number of researchers and a growing body of literature is flourishing. Researchers agrees that social capital is the synthesis of three different point of view: the first defines social capital as those characteristics of social communities, such as networks of individuals and families together with norms, that create externalities for the society as a whole; the second defines social capital as a variety of different entities which all consist of some aspect of social structure and which facilitate certain actions of actors within the structure; the third includes the social and political environment that shapes social structure and allows for the development of norms. Theoretical research distinguish between bonding and bridging social capital. The first refers to the relations that an individual has within his/her "inner circle'' whereas the second relates to ties with people outside the closest circle but belonging to the same socio-economic group. Following the approach of the World Health Organization, health should be considered as having a dynamic nature, and should be taken into consideration in the context of life, as the ability to fulfill actions or to carry out a certain role in society. The aim of the paper is to investigate the effects of bridging and bonding social capital on health of people aged 60 or more in sixteen European countries, using multinomial and logit models. The data used are from the 4th wave of the Survey on Health and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), which for the first time collects detailed information at European level on individual's social network. Health conditions are measured through perceived health status, chronic morbidity, functional limitations, self care activity restrictions (ADLs) and instrumental activity restrictions (IADLs).