Hünteler, a researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research and the University of Cologne, has carried out a comprehensive analysis and found that the way people are demographically integrated into families over the course of their lives can have a significant impact on their life satisfaction and health in later life.

The study, based on data from the German Ageing Survey, looks at the entire life course of around 3,500 people born between 1933 and 1954. Hünteler and her co-author, Prof Dr Karsten Hank, looked at when these people became parents and grandparents and when they lost their own parents. The results show that a stable and multi-generational family structure correlates positively with life satisfaction and health in old age.

A key finding of the research is that people who live in a three- or four-generation family tend to be happier and healthier than those who have no children or grandchildren and, in particular, those who lost their parents at an early age. It also seems to be particularly beneficial if one's parents die when one already has children or grandchildren. This seems to have a stabilising effect on well-being and could mitigate the negative effects of grief and loss.

An interesting concept that Hünteler introduces in her work is the so-called 'generational placement trajectories'. This model describes how a person's role within their family changes over time and can be used to analyse how these changes affect well-being. Hünteler found that holding several family roles at the same time - such as child, parent and grandparent - can be positively related to life satisfaction. These findings also have important policy implications. Hünteler emphasises that the welfare state should pay more attention to how to support people with different life courses. For example, people who become parents early or late, or who are orphaned early, may need special support to cope with the negative consequences of these life events.

In summary, Dr Bettina Hünteler's research shows that the generational structure and dynamics of the family are deeply intertwined with well-being and health in old age. These findings underline the importance of the demographic constellation of families and provide valuable insights into how social and policy measures could be designed to improve the quality of life of older people.

Life-course generational placements and health and wellbeing in later life