Older adults in India at 12% higher depression risk when children unemployed: Report

New Delhi: A new analysis of data collected as part of India's longitudinal survey of older adults reveals a 12 per cent higher risk of depression when adult children are unemployed.

Findings published in the journal Social Science and Medicine also show that the link between older adults' well-being and children's employment status is stronger in families where children's economic and social support is crucial to parents' security.

Researchers, including those from Sweden's Umea University, also found that older adults who are socially active fare significantly better compared to those living isolated lives.

The team analysed data from the Longitudinal Ageing Survey of India (LASI) -- a full-scale, nationally representative survey of over 73,000 adults aged 45 and above -- initiated by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Wave 1 of LASI was conducted in 2017-18.

Despite having a young population, India is home to the world's second largest absolute number of older adults and does not have a formal universal healthcare system, the researchers said.

Only 18 per cent of the older adults aged 60 and above are covered by health insurance, they said.

The team also noted the country's family-based culture where young members care for parents and grandparents, indicating a heavy dependence of the older adults on adult children for financial and healthcare support.

The study provides a unique picture of how families are affected when adult children fall out of the labour market, the researchers said.

"Our results show how closely interconnected generations in India are, and how vulnerable many older adults become when younger generations lose their foothold in the labour market. Without social participation, the impact is felt directly by older people," author Rishabh Tyagi from Umea University's centre for demographic and aging research said.

The authors wrote, "Our findings show a 3.14 percentage points (ppts) increase in absolute terms (and a 12.48 per cent relative increase) in the probability of parental depression risk associated with adult children's unemployment." Unemployment among first-born sons was found to be more strongly linked with the parents' depression risk, compared to unemployment among first-born daughters -- the result reflects India's cultural norms where eldest sons are expected to support parents in their later lives, the researchers said.

The expectations mean that a son's unemployment has greater consequences for parents' psychological well-being, they added.

However, despite the central role of the family, the researchers found a clear protective effect of social networks and active social engagement.

Older adults who take part in social activities have a lower risk of developing depression, even when their adult children are unemployed, they said.

For those with a limited social engagement, however, the association is significantly stronger, and the risk of depression rises sharply when adult children lose their jobs, the team said.