Material Conditions and Older Age Wellbeing in Germany and Poland: Institutional and Regional Variation in Individual Risks and Insurance Mechanisms.

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The objective of our project is to improve the understanding of the relationship between material conditions and wellbeing in older age through comparative interdisciplinary research, taking advantage of similarities and differences between Germany and Poland. Combining the experience of the PIs and their collaborators from sociology and economics, we will address social inequalities across the life course and examine the determinants of older age wellbeing within different national and regional contexts. In times of rapid population ageing which represents a major challenge for most modern societies today, our research aims to provide sound scientific evidence to ensure high quality of life for all citizens until old age. Specifically, we will assess different types of risks faced by individuals regarding their material conditions when they age, different insurance mechanisms on the individual and contextual level, and their implications for individual wellbeing. Risks in later life include changes in the level of needs which lead to additional expenditures (e.g., health care) and the depreciation of material resources (e.g. housing wealth) which cannot easily be compensated anymore in older age. Depending on institutional contexts as well as on regional conditions, insurances against such old age risks differ significantly and influence older individuals` material conditions as well as their wellbeing outcomes. To analyse such macro-micro-links, taking advantage of significant institutional changes and differences between the two countries as well as the high level of regional variation within each of them, we will create a unique linked dataset combining individual level longitudinal information from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe with detailed regional data for Germany and Poland (LAU1 & 2 level). Our analyses will address the following four main fields:1) the differences between and within Germany and Poland in material conditions, wellbeing and their respective links; 2) the role of regional level factors for the insurance of risks in the dimension of material needs (esp. care) and their individual wellbeing outcomes in older age;3) the importance of the value of assets for the individual perception of material conditions and wellbeing;and,4) the role of regional level factors for the degree of insurance of risks in the dimension of material resources (esp. housing) and their individual wellbeing outcomes in older age.We expect our project to make a significant contribution to improve the understanding of determinants of wellbeing in older age, and, through detailed analysis of international and regional variation, identify effective interventions to support the necessary transformation processes in both countries with potential broader policy conclusions.