Living arrangement of Indian elderly: a predominant predictor of their level of life satisfaction

OBJECTIVE: This article aims to examine the level of life satisfaction (LS) among Indian older adults and to determine whether their living arrangement is one of the potential determinants of their level of LS. METHODS: Data was drawn from the first and most recent wave of Longitudinal Ageing Study in India conducted in 2017–18. Using the Satisfaction with Life Scale, the level of LS was assessed for 30,370 elderly aged 60 + . Bivariate analysis was carried out to see the variation in the level of LS across elderlies with different socio-demographic characteristics. To investigate the association between LS and living arrangements and the selected socio-demographic factors multinomial logistic regression model was fitted. RESULT: The findings reveal that 25.4% and 45.5% of the elderlies have reported having a low and high level of LS, respectively. Living alone was associated with low level of LS. Co-residing with a spouse was associated with a higher likelihood of reporting high level of LS. The study also found that having both spouse and children as coresident increases the likelihood of reporting high level of LS (RRR = 3.15, 95%CI = 2.3–4.28). Elderly with self-reported poor health, limitation in more than two activities of daily living and presence of depressive symptoms were significantly associated with reporting low level of LS. However, being diagnosed with more than three chronic illnesses was associated with high level of LS (RRR = 1.41, 95%CI = 1.25–1.59). Older adults with the following characteristics were more likely to report a lower level of LS: male, 60–64 years old, no or few years of schooling, unmarried, working, rural resident, living in a poor household, Scheduled Caste and Tribe. CONCLUSION: The level of life satisfaction in Indian older adults is significantly associated with their living arrangements, thus suggesting that the LS of older adults could be facilitated through interventions that consider their living arrangements. Older adults with various personal and household characteristics were identified as vulnerable groups, who should be the prime targets of the existing welfare policies.