4.1 Remaining life expectancy achievement of 50 years at age 55
Definition | Remaining life expectancy (RLE) at 55 divided by 50 to calculate the proportion of life expectancy achievement in the target of 105 years of life expectancy |
Goal (rationale) | To capture the life expectancy aspect in determining the capacity for active ageing across EU countries. |
Source | European Health and Life Expectancy Information System (EHLEIS) / Eurostat life tables |
Year | 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014 |
Notes | For details, see http://www.eurohex.eu/index.php?option=ehleisproject |
Comparability | See details above. Processing 2011 census data introduce a break in population series for following countries: SK, CZ, LV, LT, BG, PT, PL, CH and IE. For CY this break occurred in 2010. |
4.2 Share of healthy life years in the remaining life expectancy at age 55
Definition | Healthy Life Years (HLY) measures the remaining number of years free of activity limitations caused by health problems. It combines information on quality and quantity of life. |
Goal (rationale) | Capture the proportion of years spent in good health in the remaining life expectancy at 55 as an indicator of the capacity for active ageing. |
Source | European Health and Life Expectancy Information System (EHLEIS) / Eurostat life tables + EU-SILC |
Year | 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014 |
Notes | For details on EHLEIS, see http://www.eurohex.eu/index.php?option=ehleisproject The indicator is calculated applying the Sullivan method based on the life tables and an indicator of self-perceived long-standing limitations in usual activities due to health problem [hlth_silc_06] |
Comparability | See details above. Processing 2011 census data introduce a break in population series for following countries: SK, CZ, LV, LT, BG, PT, PL, CH and IE. For Cyprus this break occurred in 2010. |
4.3 Mental well-being
Definition | Mental well-being (using EQLS and WHO’s ICD-10 measurement model) |
Goal (rationale) | To capture mental well-being of older population aged 55+, so as to complement the measure of physical health captured via the healthy life expectancy measure, with the help of an index that measures self-reported feelings of positive happy moods and spirits. |
Survey question | Five survey questions are used to calculate a composite measure of mental well-being: Over the last two weeks: Q45a: I have felt cheerful and in good spirits Q45b: I have felt calm and relaxed Q45c: I have felt active and vigorous Q45d: I woke up feeling fresh and rested Q45e: My daily life has been filled with things that interest me Response categories of each of these five survey questions are:
The raw score is calculated by reversing the value order of the variable, and then totalling the figures of the five answers. The raw score converted so as to range from 0 to 25, 0 representing worst possible and 25 representing best possible quality of life. According to WHO, a raw score below 13 indicates poor well-being and is an indication for testing for depression under the Major Depression (ICD-10) Inventory (see http://www.who-5.org/ for more details). |
Source | European Quality of Life Survey (EQLS) |
Year | 2007, 2012, 2016 |
Notes | Variable is derived using WHO’s ICD-10 measurement |
Caveats | The WHO-5 index has the limitation of being based on subjective response variable and thus it may be restricted in its international comparability. It is not accounted for if a person had very low score in any single variable, but overall raw score is above 13. Still, based on robustness check, it affects only marginally the level of indicator (results differ on average 1.1 percentage points). |
Comparability | Neither change in question nor scale in EQLS 2007, EQLS 2012 and EQLS 2016. |
4.4 Use of ICT
Definition | Share of people aged 55-74 using the Internet at least once a week. |
Goal (rationale) | This indicator aims to measure the degree to which older people’s environments enable them to connect with others with the help of information and communication technologies, thus reflecting one aspect of their capacity for active ageing. |
Survey question | ‘How often on average have you used Internet in the last 3 months?’ - Every day or almost every day - At least once a week (but not every day) - At least once a month (but not every week) - Less than once a month The question refers to the Internet use at least once a week (i.e. every day or almost every day or at least once a week but not every day) on average within the last 3 months before the survey. Use includes all locations and methods of access and any purpose (private or work/business related). [Indicator name: i_iuse] |
Source | Eurostat, ICT Survey |
Year | 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016 |
Notes | A larger number of older people using the Internet points to a higher ability to communicate with others, and engage actively in society. While excessive use of the Internet can be detrimental to one’s health, such phenomena have been observed mainly for younger people thus far. It is therefore reasonable to associate the use of Internet among older people positively with their capacity for active ageing (no cap necessary). The indicator does not account for generational gap inside the given society. |
Comparability | Eurostat, ICT Survey. See details https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/cache/metadata/en/isoc_i_esms.htm |
4.5 Social connectedness
Definition | The indicator measures the share of people aged 55 and over that meet socially with friends, relatives or colleagues at least once a week. “Meet socially” implies meet by choice, rather than for reasons of either work or pure duty. The indicator measures contacts outside the household. |
Goal (rationale) | Social contacts are a key element of an active and fulfilling life, and also vital to human health, both mentally and physically. The specific measure focuses on social meetings by choice, thus duty or work related meetings are excluded. |
Survey question | ‘How often socially meet with friends, relatives or colleagues?’
|
Source | European Social Survey (ESS) (http://www.europeansocialsurvey.org/) |
Year | 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016 |
Notes | The indicator measures contacts outside the household, thus in case the household size is large (multiple generations living together) the bulk of social contacts may take place within the household, rather than outside. Alternative data: We examined the potential use of EU-SILC 2006 Special module on social participation, but rejected it due to the lack of replicability. EU-SILC questions differ from those in the ESS and the answer categories have a reverse order (the latter is expected to have an influence on responses): ‘Frequency of getting together with relatives’ and ‘Frequency of getting together with friends’ Answers: 1 Daily, 2 Every week, 3 Several times a month, 4 Once a month, 5 At least once a year, 6 Never. Robustness check: We compared the outcomes of the ESS and EU-SILC 2006 surveys. In order to control for the potential framing effect related to the reverse order of answer categories, we have created country groupings (quartiles) showing the ranking of particular countries. The comparison of these country groups presents a relatively stable picture across countries. The countries with a low level of social contacts according to the EU-SILC data set also rank in the bottom or 2nd quartile according to the ESS survey. Similarly, it is the case at the top end. |
Caveats | Malta is missing from all waves of ESS; also, not all countries participated in all waves; all results for Luxembourg are drawn from ESS 2004. The indicator measures only the intensity of contacts, not their quality. |
Comparability | Question format has not changed between ESS survey rounds. |
4.6 Educational attainment
Definition | Percentage of older persons aged 55-74 with upper secondary or tertiary educational attainment. |
Goal (rationale) | The indicator measures relatively high levels of education, but it is not restricted to tertiary education only, given the generally lower prevalence of tertiary education among the older people. Relatively high educational attainment reflects the acquisition of key competences in the shape of knowledge, skills and attitudes. These competences provide added value for social cohesion and active citizenship by offering flexibility and adaptability, satisfaction and motivation. |
Survey question | Highest ISCED level attained? 0 pre-primary, 1 primary, 2 lower secondary, 3 (upper) secondary, 4 post-secondary non-tertiary, 5 tertiary |
Source | EU Labour Force Survey (EU-LFS) |
Year | 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016 |
Notes | Education attainment level is defined as the percentage of people of a given age class (excluding the ones that did not answer to the question 'highest level of education or training attained') having attained a given education level. ISCED 3 (Lower/ upper) secondary education: This level of education typically begins at the end of full time compulsory education if such a system is applied. More specialisation may be observed at this level than at ISCED level 2 and often teachers need to be more qualified or specialised. The entrance age to this level is typically 15 to 16 years. The educational programmes included at this level typically require the completion of 9 years of full-time education (since the beginning of level 1) or a combination of education and vocational or technical experience for admission. |
Comparability | EU-LFS. See details https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/microdata/european-union-labour-force-survey |
Return to top