Living alone or in a couple: what impact on the capacity of European elderly men and women to balance their budget?

Patrick Festy, Institut National d'Études Démographiques (INED)
Joëlle Gaymu, Institut National d'Études Démographiques (INED)
Marc Thévenin, Institut National d'Études Démographiques (INED)

A lot of research has dealt with economic living conditions of elderly Europeans. Women, persons living alone and people residing in the South of the continent generally have a more fragile material situation than men, couples and those in the North or the center. Our paper moves beyond objective disparities; it relies on a more "subjective" measurement of economic living conditions of elderly Europeans, using survey questions on perceived difficulties to balance one's budget. From data of the second wave of SHARE, we define the determinants of elderly persons' declarations of difficulties in making both ends meet.