The impact of age identity on social participation of older adults

With the intensification of the global aging population, the social engagement of seniors is regarded as a key element in the strategy for healthy aging. China, the country with the largest elderly population, confronts challenges such as "aging before becoming wealthy." The government has put forward a strategy for "healthy aging," highlighting the importance of seniors' social engagement for successful aging.

Based on the data from the China Longitudinal Aging Social Survey (CLASS) in 2020, social participation is categorized into three types: labor participation, political participation, and volunteer service. Age identity is measured by the difference between perceived age of aging and chronological age. A logistic regression model is employed to analyze the impact of age identity on the social participation of older adult.

A positive age identity significantly promotes the social participation of older adult, including labor participation, political participation, and volunteer service. Specifically, for every one-year increase in the level of age identity, the participation rate in volunteer service increases by 1.9%, the participation rate in political participation increases by 2.3%, and the increase in labor participation is the most significant, reaching 2.4%.

Different age identities among older adult lead to different identity recognitions, and a positive age identity makes them more willing to participate in society. The government should consider the diversity and complexity of older adult and provide more opportunities for them to participate in social activities in order to improve their quality of life and level of social participation, allowing them to maintain a positive age identity.