Economic determinants of household headship among older adults in India: Evidence from who-sage wave-1

One of the major changes happening today is the increasing proportion of aged in the population with less value and utility. The changing household composition, in turn, is changing the dynamics of household headship among older adults in India. This paper tries to explore the determinants of household headship among older adults. The data used for analysis was carved out from (WHO-SAGE Wave-1; 2013), which was conducted in 2007-08. Descriptive statistics, multivariate regression model, and Interaction model were used to identify the significance of the predictor for gender and type of participation while controlling other background characteristics. 78.17 per cent of older adults aged 50 years and above were household heads. Older adults who were retired or never worked, belong to poor wealth quintile and does not receive any pension were less likely to be the household head. The situation in educated older adults was quite surprising that older adults who were graduate and above were less likely to be household heads. When the interaction was observed between gender and other economic profiles, women were found disadvantageous in every situation. From a policy perspective, such analysis has relevance on several fronts. Access to pensions might well be even more important among older adults whose employment potential is further compromised by age and gender.