Aging & Social Change: Twelfth Interdisciplinary Conference

Abstract

The paper analyses the social inequalities embedded in time-use dimensions among the older adults from the recently released dataset Longitudinal Ageing Study in India (LASI; Wave 1, 2017-2018). With dramatic shifts and changes in later-life, scholars have recorded an emerging cultural movement of third-agers, who are defined by their leisure pursuits. Although social engagement through leisure has been known to be an important determinant for older adults’ wellbeing, the empirical examination of this association remains absent in the Indian gerontological scholarship. Therefore, we examine how everyday leisure activities vary by gender, class and living-arrangement patterns and its association with life satisfaction among older adults aged 50 and above. Results from regression modelling offer support to previous work that emphasizes the centrality of leisure engagement in improving older adult wellbeing. We also contend that a focus on leisure patterns make for a persuasive empirical alternative to examine household-level inequalities across gender and generation.