‘Kinlessness’, social connectedness, and subjective well-being in Europe

Objectives This study examines the association between family structure and subjective well-being by focusing on the moderating effects of social connectedness across genders and country contexts. We compare the well-being of older adults across four family types: those with both a partner and children, those with a partner but not children, those with children but no partner, and those without a partner and children (‘kinless’). Methods We use data from six waves of the European Social Survey (2012-2024) and estimate ordered logistic regression models of happiness and life satisfaction among middle-aged and older Europeans aged 50-104 (62,687 men and 73,323 women). We include interactions in the analysis to test whether social connectedness mitigates the well-being differences between kinless adults and partnered parents. Results The results show that middle-aged and older adults, especially men, without a partner exhibit lower levels of happiness and life satisfaction compared to their partnered counterparts, regardless of the absence of children. The subjective well-being gap between partnered and unpartnered men diminishes according to their level of social connectedness, a moderating effect primarily observed in Nordic and Western European countries. Discussion Contrary to the notion that ‘kinlessness’ leads to ageing alone, middle-aged and older men in less family-centered countries are able to alleviate the detrimental impact of partnerlessness on subjective well-being through increased social connectedness. In contrast, in countries where family ties are more emphasized, particularly in Eastern Europe, un-partnered adults face greater well-being challenges that are harder to offset with social connectedness.