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Though a continued increase in life expectancy is a significant public health achievement, keeping older adults active and maintaining their well-being is challenging. Active aging requires physical health, mental health, functional independence, economic stability, social participation, and spiritual identification. Among all these factors, social cohesion has significant importance, but there is a dearth of studies focusing on older adults' social cohesion. Thus, the present study focuses on the level of social cohesion among older adults and its variation among the different economic classes. This article uses data from the Study on Global AGEing and Adult Health (SAGE) conducted in China, Ghana, India, Mexico, Russia, and South Africa during 2007–10. Social cohesion scores have been constructed using Item Response Theory Partial Credit Model. Also, bivariate analysis, concentration curves, concentration indices, and multivariate regressions have been used for the analysis presented in this paper. This study confirms the strong predictive power of age, wealth, education, and working status of older adults on their social cohesion across the countries. Higher social non-cohesion is found among the economically poor older adults in Mexico, Russia, India, and China. In contrast, it is just opposite in the case of older adults in South Africa. Governments should develop policies to foster a society with a high level of social inclusion, social capital, and social diversity, to achieve further advancement in social cohesion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ghana's economy is predominantly informal with about 80% of workers in small enterprises run and managed by family members with no fixed retirement procedures. Although, retirement is basically an individual decision, it has social policy implications for the nation as a whole. The purpose of this study is to provide empirical evidence on what is likely to inform the decision to retire for the over 50s in Ghana's informal economy. This is to ensure the development of effective policies for the ageing informal work force. Using an exploratory sequential method, to examine the understanding and preferred type of retirement, family business owners aged 50 years and above participated in a study, (n = 35 qualitative; n = 383 quantitative), conducted in Kumasi, Ghana's second largest city. Findings, revealed that retirement for business owners, largely meant a gradual withdrawal from economic activities. Also, gender, family and work-related factors significantly predicted retirement decision-making of family business owners. Recommendations included tailored retirement planning education by both Social Workers and insurance providers, and a more flexible phased pension plan for those in the informal economy to ensure the wellbeing of aging self-employed who have poor health and are financially insecure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]