Later life precarity and longitudinal frailty trajectories in older adults

Bibliographic Data

ID11200474
AuthorsLaurence Rowley-Abel (0009-0004-7043-2228, University of Edinburgh, corresponding author), Lisa van den Driest (0000-0002-6687-5032, University of Strathclyde), Qingwen Chen (0000-0002-1823-1136, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School), Yulu Chen (0000-0003-2298-1842, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School), Su Chu (Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School), S Haihua Chu (0000-0002-8333-5409, Brigham and Women's Hospital), Jessica Lasky-Su (Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School), Nicholas J W Rattray (University of Strathclyde), Alan Marshall (0000-0003-0971-829X, University of Edinburgh)
Year2026
Volume46
Publication date2026-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAgeing and Society (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0144-686X • E-ISSN: 1469-1779
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0144686x26100543
OpenAlexW7140328514
LanguageEN
References cited36

The concept of precarity is increasingly being applied in social gerontology to understand risks and uncertainties faced by older adults. However, existing research has not captured precarity quantitatively nor has it modelled its effect on older adults’ health. We therefore develop a Later Life Precarity Index and model its association with frailty. Using longitudinal data on 15,733 older adults from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing, we examine the association between frailty and risks across the domains of finances, pensions, employment, housing, relationship and unpaid care-giving. We then develop the Later Life Precarity Index and model its longitudinal association with a Frailty Index using hybrid panel regression. The results indicate that multiple social risks are strongly and independently associated with frailty, particularly around finances, housing, fuel poverty and food insecurity. In longitudinal models, the precarity index explains both between-individual differences and within-individual changes in frailty and performs substantially better than standard measures of socio-economic status (wealth and education). The strong longitudinal association of the precarity index with frailty suggests that social gerontology’s growing focus on precarity is a useful lens for understanding the diverse, changing and new forms of social risk that impact frailty. By developing, testing and sharing this novel measure of later life precarity, this study brings potential for new understandings of the evolving drivers of inequalities in the health of older adults

Association (psychology) · Index (typography) · Life course approach · Longitudinal study · Older people · Poverty · Precarity · Employment and Welfare Studies · Health disparities and outcomes · Retirement, Disability, and Employment

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