Objective: Intergenerational support is an important pillar for addressing the challenges of aging societies, including an increased demand for care and social support in old age. Health is an important determinant of support, but the broader health consequences of intergenerational support are less studied. Existing studies suggest negative consequences of informal care provision for mental health; with regard to the consequences of other types and arrangements of intergenerational support, the evidence is more mixed. In aiming to close these gaps, we ask: How is the exchange of intergenerational support in later life associated with health? Thereby, we distinguish intergenerational support by role (giving vs. receiving), type (money vs. time transfers) and direction (upward vs. downward intergenerational support). Moreover, we study five health outcomes, representing both objective and subjective assessments of physical and mental health.

Method: We use seven waves from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), considering respondents aged 60 years or older, with their youngest child aged 25-60 years. All respondents are parents, but may be children, too. We longitudinally investigate changes in grip strength, chronic conditions, self-rated health, depression, and quality of life, and trace them to changes in giving and receiving practical and financial support to or from parents (upwardly) and children (downwardly) using fixed effects panel regressions.

Result: Our results show that the health consequences of intergenerational support depend on the specific constellation of support and health outcome studied. Nevertheless, we find stable patterns of lower mental health among providers of practical support, particularly upward support. We also find better physical health among providers of downward practical support, and lower overall health among receivers of support.

Conclusion: This study contributes to the literature on the health consequences of social support by acknowledging the complexity of intergenerational exchange, which is studied along the dimensions of role, type, and direction. Our findings suggest a considerable health risk among providers, which has ramifications for both the lack of skilled labour and the need for informal caregivers in ageing societies.

Research Question: Many studies have investigated the short-term impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on loneliness during its first year, showing sharp increases in loneliness at the onset of the pandemic. However, little is known about the long-term effects of the pandemic. This study aims to analyze how loneliness developed before, during, and after the pandemic. Moreover, societal crises in general do not affect everyone equally, as different life circumstances can either mitigate or exacerbate the impact on social integration. Therefore, it is crucial to not only examine changes in loneliness in the general population but also to account for the heterogeneity of these developmental trajectories.

Method: Using longitudinal data from five waves of the German Ageing Survey (DEAS), collected between 2014 and 2023, we first apply latent change score models to identify an average trajectory of loneliness. Secondly, we use latent class analysis to capture heterogeneity around this trajectory. Subsequently, we will examine potential predictors (e.g., sociodemographic factors and relationship quality) of membership in the identified trajectory groups.

Results: First results show that, after the onset of the pandemic, loneliness levels in the general population took almost three years to return to pre-pandemic levels. The latent class analysis reveals three distinct trajectories. The majority of individuals fall into two groups, both of which experienced increased loneliness at the onset of the pandemic. However, while one of these groups recovered quickly, the other showed a more gradual decline in loneliness. A third, smaller group remained consistently lonely throughout the entire study period. In the next step, we will explore variables related to social inequality that may predict group membership in the loneliness trajectories.

Conclusions: The findings suggest that recovery took longer than previously assumed. While many people were able to adapt quickly, others struggled. This highlights the existence of heterogeneous trajectories in the development of loneliness.

Demographic change and the increasing diversity of life courses are leading to a growing number of older adults living without local family support networks. In Germany, care responsibilities have traditionally been seen as a family responsibility. This raises pressing questions about how social support and everyday assistance can be guaranteed when family is absent. While research shows that support can also be provided by friends, neighbors, or other close individuals, such relationships often lack formal recognition and legal security.

Drawing on data from the German Ageing Survey (DEAS, 2002–2023), this presentation explores: (1) which groups of older people live without a partner and without children nearby, and how this situation relates to age, cohort, gender, and education; (2) who provides support and care outside of family ties, and whether this has changed across birth cohorts.

The results show that around one in seven people in the second half of life live without immediate family nearby—a figure that increases with age and affects women disproportionately. A small but significant share of people provide care for non-relatives, again with women more frequently taking on these roles. However, longitudinal analyses show little change in these patterns across cohorts.

These findings point to a persistent care gap that remains largely invisible in the current familialist welfare framework. The paper contributes to the debate on inclusive and age-friendly communities by highlighting overlooked forms of interdependence and the need for broader social and legal recognition of non-kin support networks.

In the next step, we aim to analyze how people who do not have family nearby differ from those with local family networks in terms of potential social support and how their access to potential support has changed across the COVID-19 pandemic. In particular, we will explore gender differences in this regard.

Research question: How do cumulative social inequalities shape social participation in older age? And what is the role of family caregiving in such association?

Method: We exploited data from waves 6, 7, 8 and 9 (2015-2022) of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), using an intersectional Multilevel Analysis of Individual Heterogeneity and Discriminatory Accuracy (MAIHDA). We investigated differences in social participation across 48 intersectional social positions, based on unique combinations of sex/gender, migration background, education, occupation and family caregiving.

Results: Our findings revealed how differences in social participation were driven by the additive influence of sociodemographic characteristics: individuals in more privileged positions (without migration background, high education and white-collar occupations) reported higher engaging in social activities such as volunteering, vocational training or community clubs. When further stratifying by family caregiving in the household, a minor yet negative impact of caregiving in social participation emerged. Intersectional strata explained a substantial amount of the variation (8.9%) in social participation. Importantly, strata in disadvantaged positions providing caregiving had the lowest social participation, underscoring the presence of cumulative intersectional inequalities. Most of the differences between strata were due to additive effects, with less than 4% attributable to multiplicative effects.

Conclusion: Social participation among older adults in Europe is significantly stratified by cumulative sociodemographic inequalities, with intersectional positions shaping opportunities for active ageing. Older adults occupying multiple disadvantaged positions—especially those providing family care—show a  noticeable lower engagement in social participation. Given the critical role of social participation in healthy ageing, targeted interventions should focus on promoting active ageing among individuals experiencing multiple social disadvantages and family caregiving. Our findings underline the necessity of intersectional frameworks in addressing the social inequalities of ageing populations to promote equity in healthy ageing.

Research question: Social integration is a crucial factor for the health and longevity of older adults, but until now there has been no instrument to measure and compare the social integration of older adults at the European level. Therefore, the established Social Network Index by Berkman and Syme (1979, Am J Epidemiol) was reconstructed for the European area. Using this index, we analyse the extent to which gender differences in social integration in old age might be influenced by the organisational structure of family care. The analysis sheds light on the following questions: (1) Are men or women more affected by low social integration? (2) Does the social integration of older people differ between European countries? (3) Do inequalities in social integration vary between different care regimes?

Method: Data from the ninth wave of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) were used to reconstruct the index. The sample consists of nearly 54,000 people from 21 European countries. Using multivariate regression analyses, we examine the social integration of women and men in different welfare systems in Europe, assigned to four different care regimes.

Results: Our results show that women tend to be less socially integrated than men, and that older people in more 'familialistic' care regimes show lower social integration. The gender gap varies across contexts: In family-centred systems, women are more likely to be socially isolated - presumably due to their role as primary caregivers, which limits their participation in social activities outside family structures.

Conclusions: Our findings highlight the need for context-sensitive policies to promote social inclusion, especially for women and older people in family-centred welfare states. This opens up a wide range of perspectives for comparative research on the social inclusion of older people in Europe's ageing societies.