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The COVID-19 pandemic has in many ways challenged the health and well-being of people, and more widely, the welfare systems in the Nordic countries. Due to regulations and lockdowns, many people have experienced social isolation, and certain vulnerable groups – such as older adults and those with disabilities – have been hit especially hard. As loneliness has implications for people’s long-term mental and physical health, the consequences of the pandemic are significant for health and social care as a whole. This literature review describes the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on loneliness and social isolation among younger and older adults living in the Nordic countries, with and without disabilities, and in different situations.

Objectives: This study addresses the gendered risks of loneliness and depression in later life from a social exclusion perspective. Exclusion from social relations (ESR) in older age is an unwanted situation associated with increased loneliness and depressive symptoms, with gender differences in the perception of solitude, and the evaluation of existing social networks, potentially accounting for the increased susceptibility of older women. Method: Secondary analyses was conducted in a sample of 60,918 participants in the Survey on Health, Aging and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). Older persons subjective perception of solitude (i.e. solitude satisfaction), and their satisfaction with established relations (i.e. network satisfaction), were examined in gender-stratified regression models, predicting loneliness and depressive symptomatology, controlling for network size, demographics, and health. Results: There was no convincing evidence for significant associations between solitude satisfaction (SoS) and loneliness among older men, nor between network satisfaction (NeS) and loneliness for both genders. Low SoS and low NeS were independently associated with more depressive symptoms and an increased probability of depression, especially among older women. This vulnerability could not be attributed to increased loneliness, as only among older women, low SoS was associated with lower levels of loneliness, and lower levels of loneliness was anaemically associated with more depressive symptoms. Conclusions: The perception of solitude, and the evaluation of social relations, are associated with gendered risks of depression among older persons who are challenged by objective and subjective ESR states., Funding: Austria Science Fund [I4210/GNP187]; Technology Agency of the Czech Republic [TJ03000002]; Irish Research Council [GNP-187]; Ministry of Science Technology [MSTS3-15667]; Research Council of Norway [299859]; Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities [PCI2019-103627]; Swedish Research Council [2018-00929]; Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare [2020-00039]

This study aims to explore the effects of childhood circumstances and conditions on the risk of exclusionfrom social relations in old age, using a life-course perspective and examining gender influence. Secondaryanalysis of SHARE. Weak and inconsistent consequences of the primary socialization context were found,however, in many cases, the expected effect is missing or contradictory. No impacts on the structure of the family oforigin were found. For men, we often found a small, but significant effect of physical aspects of childhood living.For women, the cultural capital of family of origin and the quality of relations with parents seem to have a greatereffect. Findings suggest that life-long resilience factors play an important role in the process of counterbalancingchildhood living conditions. Early socialization consequences will not necessarily lead to ESR at old age., Funding: GENPATH is part of the GENDER-NET Plus ERANET COFUND project, which has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement N° 741874. The national teams have been supported by following grants: Austria (FWF I4210/GNP187), Czechia (TAČR ZÉTA TJ03000002), Ireland (GNP-187), Israel (Ministry of Science, Technology and Space 3-15667), Norway (NFR 299859), Spain (PCI2019-103627), Sweden (Vetenskapsrådet 2018-00929).

Objectives: This study addresses the gendered risks of loneliness and depression in later life from a social exclusion perspective. Exclusion from social relations (ESR) in older age is an unwanted situation associated with increased loneliness and depressive symptoms, with gender differences in the perception of solitude, and the evaluation of existing social networks, potentially accounting for the increased susceptibility of older women. Method: Secondary analyses was conducted in a sample of 60,918 participants in the Survey on Health, Aging and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). Older persons subjective perception of solitude (i.e. solitude satisfaction), and their satisfaction with established relations (i.e. network satisfaction), were examined in gender-stratified regression models, predicting loneliness and depressive symptomatology, controlling for network size, demographics, and health. Results: There was no convincing evidence for significant associations between solitude satisfaction (SoS) and loneliness among older men, nor between network satisfaction (NeS) and loneliness for both genders. Low SoS and low NeS were independently associated with more depressive symptoms and an increased probability of depression, especially among older women. This vulnerability could not be attributed to increased loneliness, as only among older women, low SoS was associated with lower levels of loneliness, and lower levels of loneliness was anaemically associated with more depressive symptoms. Conclusions: The perception of solitude, and the evaluation of social relations, are associated with gendered risks of depression among older persons who are challenged by objective and subjective ESR states., Funding: Austria Science Fund [I4210/GNP187]; Technology Agency of the Czech Republic [TJ03000002]; Irish Research Council [GNP-187]; Ministry of Science Technology [MSTS3-15667]; Research Council of Norway [299859]; Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities [PCI2019-103627]; Swedish Research Council [2018-00929]; Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare [2020-00039]

Exclusion from social relations (ESR) in older age is associated with worse quality of life and adverse mental health outcomes. Recent evidence suggest that the perception of solitude and the evaluation of existing social networks modify the disadvantages of ESR among excluded older persons. This presentation takes a gender perspective on the topic, bringing together the quantitative evidence of the GenPath project. The results of the project suggest that over and above loneliness and objective ESR indicators, the perception of solitude and the evaluation of existing social relations modify the gendered risks of depression in older age. The findings also reveal a northwest to southeast gradient in objective ESR states, with the rates in southeast Europe to be pronounced among older women. It is concluded that objective and subjective factors at the micro and macro levels may shape gendered disadvantages among older persons who are challenged by ESR states.

Objectives Previous studies have shown the importance of individual markers of cognitive reserve, such as education and occupation, for cognitive health in old age. However, there has been only little investigation so far on how this relationship varies across contexts. Methods We analyzed data from the Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe, using second-order latent growth models, to assess the moderating role of welfare regimes on the relationship between education and occupation skill level in explaining overall cognitive functioning and decline in old age. Our sample includes 13 European countries using data from 5 regular waves of the survey (2004–2007 and 2011–2015) and 2 retrospective ones (2008–2009 and 2017). Cognitive functioning was modeled as a latent variable measured by immediate and delayed recall, verbal fluency, and numeracy. Results 74,193 participants were included from the survey. Our analysis showed that the association of education with cognition was weaker overall in Scandinavian countries, but stronger in Southern European countries, relative to Bismarckian ones. However, educational differences in the decline of cognition were more pronounced only in Scandinavian compared to Bismarckian countries. Additionally, higher-skilled occupations in Scandinavian countries had better overall functioning compared to the same occupations in Bismarckian countries, but there was no difference in the decline in cognitive functioning. Discussion Our findings indicate that the associations of cognitive functioning and its decline with individuals’ cognitive reserve markers (education and occupational skill level) vary according to welfare regimes, showing the importance of contextual factors in cognitive aging processes.