Life satisfaction among elderly in Italy

In the last decades an increasing attention has been paid to the issue of wellbeing among elderly. This paper aims to shed light on this topic with reference to Italy, a country characterized by an increasing ageing. Life satisfaction is used as indicator of wellbeing to evaluate older people’s lives, reflecting multiple and broad domains. The aim of this study was to examine life satisfaction among people aged 65 and older and its predictors (health, economic, social and family resources). Moreover, we are interested in exploring potential gender differences. Special emphasis will be given to particular groups of elderly: from one hand, those with some health problems who declared to be (enough) satisfied and, on the other hand, those in relatively good health, but with low satisfaction. Data used come from the cross-sectional surveys “Aspect of Daily Life” carried out in Italy by the National Statistical Institute (ISTAT). In particular, the latest available surveys (2010 and 2011) are considered.