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The elderly seem to be more subject to housing problems due to lower income, older age of the housing stock and lower mobility. Nonetheless, housing deprivation (HD) is commonly analysed amongst the general population. Less is known about the differences between age clusters, which seems to be a crucial issue in countries like Poland due to population ageing. What is more, the current literature usually analyses only the occurrence of HD, while also an accumulation of its indicators seems to be substantial. The aim of this article is to identify the differences in HD (its occurrence and accumulation) amongst elderly and non-elderly households and to diagnose the risk factors behind those phenomena.

The HD index was calculated and compared. Next, the multinomial logit models were used to assess risk factors of HD.

The study showed that, surprisingly, HD in Poland occurs more frequently amongst non-elderly households. The elderly ones suffered more from housing cost overburden, while non-elderly from the overpopulation. In large part, analysed risk factors had a stronger influence on housing conditions of the elderly than non-elderly households.

Social policy tools should focus on the situation of single elderly households, especially living in houses, often in villages. This group is particularly affected by problems with the quality of the dwelling and housing cost overburden.

In the paper, the occurrence and accumulation of HD indicators were analysed. The authors applied a methodological framework that is applicable to other European Union (EU) member states based on the EU Survey on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) data. It is possible to continue the research study and compare different economies.

This study examines elderly and advanced elderly inpatients' perceptions of acute care service quality, prioritises opportunities for quality improvement, and assesses variation in patients' satisfaction with care. Psychometrically‐validated postal questionnaires were sent to random samplings of patients discharged from the US acute care facilities in 2002 (n=2,057,164). Quality improvement priorities among non‐elderly (< 65 years), elderly (65‐74 years), and advanced elderly (>74 years) were similar but substantial variation was found comparing single items between age groups. Elderly and advanced elderly patients rated the quality of meals and rooms significantly lower than the non‐elderly, and the advanced elderly rated treatment decision making involvement significantly lower than the other two age groups. The data reveals specific, actionable areas for quality improvement and a non‐linear relationship between age and satisfaction. Findings question assumptions regarding older patients' evaluations of care and indicate directions for quality improvement that account for their unique needs.

The extent to which means-tested transfers, social insurance, and tax credits fill the gap between a family's private resources and the poverty threshold is a periodic barometer of the social safety net. Using data on families from the Current Population Survey I examine how the level and composition of before- and after-tax and after-transfer poverty gaps changed in response to changes in the policy and economic landscapes over the past two decades. The estimates presented here indicate not only dramatic changes in the level and sources of income maintenance programs filling the poverty gap, but also dramatic changes in which demographic groups successfully fill the gap. From the peak-to-peak business-cycle years of 1979 to 1999, the fraction of the gap left unfilled among non-elderly families in poverty has expanded by 25 percent, while the unfilled gap has increased by 50 percent among single female-headed families, families headed by non-whites, and families residing in the Northeast. In a given year the poor in the South fill considerably less of the poverty gap with cash welfare, but make up for much of the shortfall with higher payments of food stamps, SSI, and SSDI. Over time the poor in all regions of the country have substituted SSI, SSDI, and the EITC for cash welfare. Indeed, by 1999 the unfilled gap for families with related children present would be one-fifth larger without the EITC. With the exception of married-couple families, this apparent rate of replacement of disability payments and tax credits for cash welfare is less than one for one, leaving most poor families, especially non-white families and single female-headed families, financially more vulnerable today than in previous decades.

In recent years a great deal of time and resources have been devoted to understanding poverty in general and elderly poverty in particular. This paper uses a panel data set spanning the years 1980–2001 to investigate the impact of certain economic and demographic factors on overall, non-elderly, and elderly poverty. We also investigate the robustness of income-only poverty measures when the threshold income level is altered.

This study aims to understand elderly people and their family members’ perceptions and usage of a mobile personal safety service.

The study adopts both interviews and analysis of actual usage data to cross-validate the findings. Four family groups and 11 subjects participated in the study.

Elderly people are willing to learn to use the mobile safety service, and some elderly people explore more features than their younger family members. Family support facilitates their learning. Elderly people feel psychologically secure when using the mobile safety service. Privacy concerns are mitigated because they consider location sharing is necessary for the service.

The current sample is small, as it involves collection of both interview data and actual usage data. Considering the emergency of the mobile personal safety service, the study is exploratory.

The findings suggest that elderly people are willing to learn and use technology such as the mobile safety service, which is relevant to their daily lives. Designers may think about how to highlight the relevancy aspect of technologies in elderly peoples’ lives.

This study is one of the earliest studies about elderly people’s usage of mobile safety service. This study reveals that elderly people are willing to learn to use the mobile safety service and explore its features. Technical support from family members and relevancy of the service in their daily lives may encourage them to use the technology.

This paper considers the effects on current pensioner incomes of reforms designed to improve the long-term sustainability of public pension systems in the European Union. We use EUROMOD to simulate a set of common illustrative reforms for four countries selected on the basis of their diverse pension systems and patterns of poverty among the elderly: Denmark, Germany, Italy and the UK. The variations in fiscal and distributive effects on the one hand suggest that different paths for reform are necessary in order to achieve common objectives across countries, and on the other provide indications of the appropriate directions for reform in each case.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate eldercare issues in China through exploring what was discussed about eldercare in a Chinese online community for older adults (OCOA).

Netnography was used to explore eldercare-related online discussion in a Chinese OCOA – LaoYouBang. After a two-month-long online observation, 275 microblogs and 594 comments were collected and analysed qualitatively and quantitatively.

The main findings include as follows: the users involved in an online discussion about eldercare were consist of four categories, namely, elderly user, non-elderly user, advertiser and community administrator. Non-elderly user include the elderly’s caregivers and families, young and middle-aged people concerning about eldercare. From 2012 to 2017, eldercare issues gradually became refined and differentiated in China and elderly users’ contribution proportion and activeness increased yearly. According to the results of thematic analysis, users’ information needs for eldercare included opinion, news, practice, emotion, knowledge and others. In China, some changes have taken place in the public’s conceptions of eldercare, embodied in the changes in the public’s attention, attitudes and cognition. Changes in user structure and communication patterns in OCOA have also been noted. OCOA plays an important role in eldercare information dissemination and social support exchange and helps to meet the eldercare challenges.

This study explored an online community for older adults. This is the first netnography study in the information field on Chinese OCOA. This paper provides new perspectives to explore eldercare issues and OCOA in other regions and cultures and it also provides some suggestions to improve OCOA.

To examine associations by gender between cancer history and major health insurance transitions (gains and losses), and relationships between insurance transitions and access to care.

Longitudinal 2008–2013 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey data were pooled yielding 2,223 cancer survivors and 50,692 individuals with no cancer history ages 18–63 years upon survey entry, with gender-specific sub-analyses. Access-to-care implications of insurance loss or gain were compared by cancer history and gender.

Initially uninsured cancer survivors were significantly more likely to gain insurance coverage than individuals with no cancer history (RR: 1.25; 95% CI: 1.08–1.44). Females in particular were significantly more likely to gain insurance (unmarried RR: 1.16; 95% CI: 1.06–1.28; married RR: 1.09; 95% CI: 1.02–1.16). Significantly higher rates of difficulty accessing needed medical care and prescription medications were reported by those remaining uninsured, those who lost insurance, and women in general. Remaining uninsured, losing insurance, and male gender were associated with lack of a usual source of care.

Additional outreach to disadvantaged populations is needed to improve access to affordable insurance and medical care. Future longitudinal studies should assess whether major Affordable Care Act (ACA) provisions enacted after the 2008–2013 study period (or those of ACA’s replacement) are addressing these important issues.

Loss of health insurance coverage can reduce health care access resulting in poor health outcomes. Cancer survivors may be particularly at risk of insurance coverage gaps due to the long-term chronic disease trajectory. This study is novel in exploring associations between cancer history by gender and health insurance transitions, both gains and losses, in a national non-elderly adult sample.

Data from the 1984 Survey of Income and Program Participation are linked to longitudinal records from the Social Security Administration to examine the relationship between the long-term unemployment that prime-aged (ages 25–55) male workers experienced around the time of the 1980–1982 twin recessions with earnings, receipt of either Disability Insurance or Supplemental Security Income (DI-SSI) benefits, and mortality. Separate estimations are made for those who voluntarily and involuntarily left employment and the combined sample of these two groups. We find that 20 years later, long-term joblessness was associated with significantly lower earnings and higher likelihoods of the receipt of DI-SSI benefits as well as mortality.

In the context of the digital age, this study aims to investigate the impact of citizens' digital participation on the scientific and democratic decision-making processes of the government. Specifically, the authors focus on the factors influencing citizens' digital participation, with a particular emphasis on their digital skills.

Exploring the influence of citizens' digital skills on their digital participation is of great practical significance for eliminating the digital divide and for promoting a life characterized by enriched digital interactions with the public. This study selected the social consciousness survey database of Chinese netizens in 2017, used ordered Probit and OLS models, and comprehensively used the instrumental variable method (IV), causal stepwise regression method and bootstrap method to empirically verify and construct a mechanism model of the influence of digital skills on citizens' digital participation.

The empirical findings indicate a noteworthy positive association between citizens' proficiency in digital skills and their active engagement in digital activities. This relationship is positively mediated by factors such as political interest and attention to social issues, underscoring their role in encouraging greater digital participation. Conversely, national identity exhibits a counteractive influence on this mechanism, potentially discouraging digital engagement. Notably, the impact of digital skill mastery on digital participation is more pronounced among non-elderly individuals and those residing in metropolitan areas, highlighting the significance of demographic characteristics in this context.

These research results can help the government and other organizations make better decisions and facilitate improvement of citizens' digital participation by promoting their mastery of digital skills.