Socioeconomic Disparities in Participation and Time Use among Older Men and Women with Disability

• In Event: 067 - Section on Aging and the Life Course Refereed Roundtable Session
  In Refereed Roundtable 100min: Table 03. Behavior and Functional Ability across the Life Course

Abstract

The main objectives of this research are to evaluate participation and time use among older men and women with disabilities in a national sample of older Americans and to identify differences in participation and time use by socioeconomic status (SES). Using the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) supplementary Disability and Time Use (DUST) daily diary data, we estimate participation and time use among disabled U.S. adults 60 years or older. Relative to nondisabled older adults, men with disabilities spent more time on self-care and less time on productive activities, whereas older women with disabilities spent less time on productive activities, active leisure, and obtaining goods and more time on non-active leisure. Among men with disabilities, there was an educational gradient for active leisure and income gradient for non-active leisure; higher levels of education were associated with more active leisure, while lower levels of income were associated with more non-active leisure. Among older women with disabilities, education was not significantly associated with duration for any specific activity; however, income was associated with self-care and active leisure time use. Older women with disabilities in the highest income quartile spent the most amount of time completing self-care tasks. Increasing active leisure participation among older men with disability and lower SES may improve health and wellbeing and subsequently reduce socioeconomic disparities. Disability status appeared to shape older women’s active leisure consumption more so than older men, which highlights potential gender and SES disparities among older adults with disability.

Authors

• Kenzie Latham-Mintus, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI)

• Philippa J. Clarke, University of Michigan

• Gregory Michael Pavela, University of Alabama at Birmingham