People over 55 show stronger workplace attachment and engagement and perceive less age discrimination within their organisation, according to a study by the Bienestar+ Chair

Workers aged 55 and over scored as well as or better than those under 55 in many of the comparisons carried out for the “Age Inclusion and Workplace Wellbeing Index” (IEBL, its Spanish acronym), presented by the Bienestar+ Chair for Active and Healthy Longevity at an event held at Palau Macaya in Barcelona. The event also highlighted progress on two other research projects carried out during the Chair’s first year of activity.

The Bienestar+ Chair is an academic and social initiative launched by CaixaBank, the ”la Caixa” Foundation and VidaCaixa, in collaboration with the University of Deusto, Comillas Pontifical University and Esade. It was established to address the challenges of longevity through scientific evidence, with the aim of helping older people live with financial security, maintain social ties, retain their autonomy and, above all, continue to participate in society. To advance this goal, the Chair promotes various lines of research and analytical tools. These include the two indices presented, which form part of its Observatory and enable the collection and analysis of data on ageing in Spain.

The event opened with welcoming remarks by Marc Simón, Deputy Director General of the ”la Caixa” Foundation, followed by a presentation of the Chair’s vision by Jordi Trullén, the initiative’s Academic Director and an Esade professor. In the findings session, David Roch, a professor at Comillas Pontifical University, and Florencia Sortheix, a senior researcher at the Bienestar+ Chair, presented the IEBL and its practical implications; Pablo Calvo, a professor at Comillas Pontifical University, presented the Social Connection Index; and Carmen Valor, also a professor at Comillas, shared the findings on time use and happiness in people aged 65+. Tomás Muniesa, Chairman of CaixaBank, delivered the event’s institutional closing address.

In his closing address, Tomás Muniesa, Chairman of CaixaBank, said: “Longevity is one of our societies’ greatest achievements, but it is also an enormous demographic challenge that affects many areas and cannot be addressed by a single discipline or institution. That is why, through the Bienestar+ Chair, we promote collaboration, research and a comprehensive approach to help ensure that longevity takes its rightful place on the social, business and institutional agenda, and to help turn this challenge into an opportunity to build a more inclusive, healthy and prosperous society.”

Older age does not mean lower workplace wellbeing

The IEBL analyses age inclusion and workplace wellbeing among workers in Spain through two dimensions: their perception that their organisations value them and offer them opportunities regardless of age; and workplace wellbeing, both at the individual level (motivation at work and commitment to the organisation) and at the team level (support from colleagues and supervisors, or active participation). The study was based on an online survey of 3,000 economically active people aged between 18 and 74 working in companies with ten or more employees.

Among the main findings, the research team identifies a consistent pattern whereby people aged 55 and over show stronger attachment to their organisation and greater engagement with their work than younger people, although they report higher levels of work-related stress. They also perceive less age discrimination in task allocation, promotion and development opportunities.

The findings also show that the youngest and oldest groups have the highest overall scores compared with the other age groups. Furthermore, the analysis by age group and gender shows that men score higher than women at all ages, with a wider gap in the 16–24 and 65–74 age groups, which have the lowest representation in the sample.

Educational attainment may also play a role: among those with lower levels of education, people over 55 achieve better results than younger groups. The researchers suggest that the experience and reputation accumulated with age could compensate for a lower level of education. However, this age-related difference disappears as educational attainment increases.

In terms of company size, workers over 55 scored higher than younger workers in small companies; the reverse was true in medium-sized companies, while the differences between the two groups narrowed in large companies. This could be related to the greater availability of resources and specific human resources policies aimed at promoting inclusion and wellbeing in these companies.

“The Age Inclusion and Workplace Wellbeing Index provides evidence to reassess some age-related stereotypes in the workplace and better understand how wellbeing and inclusion evolve throughout working life,” said David Roch, a professor in the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration at Comillas Pontifical University and lead researcher for the IEBL.

The research team proposes a series of measures to turn age diversity into a strength and promote wellbeing throughout working life, preparing people for longer careers. Its recommendations include training team leaders to manage age stereotypes, ensuring equal opportunities, adapting working environments to changing needs and promoting intergenerational cooperation.

The Social Connection Index highlights Spain’s strong close support networks among people over 55

The Social Connection Index, the second project presented by the Chair, analyses two dimensions: close support networks, which consider ties with family and friends, as well as perceived socioemotional support; and social trust and participation, which includes interpersonal trust, volunteering and participation in social, cultural and educational activities. To compile the index, the researchers used data from the European Social Survey (ESS) and the EU-Loneliness Survey (EU-L). The international comparison covers 22 countries with information available in both surveys. In Spain, the analysis included 1,009 people from the EU-L and 1,800 from the ESS, with nationwide coverage.

Based on these two dimensions, the international comparison ranks Spain second for close support networks among people over 55, thanks to the strength of their ties with family and friends, while the Netherlands, Finland and Sweden lead the rankings for social trust and participation.

Within Spain, close support networks are maintained with age, as face-to-face meetings with family and perceived socioemotional support increase, although contact with friends declines slightly.

In terms of gender, women score higher than men in almost all age groups (except those aged 26–35), mainly owing to greater perceived socioemotional support and a close family network. Place of residence also plays a role: among older people, these networks are maintained or grow in medium-sized and large cities, but decline in rural areas.

In Spain, the social trust and participation dimension peaks between the ages of 26 and 35 and then declines, although the two components follow different patterns. While trust remains stable across age groups, social participation shows the greatest decline with age, particularly in educational, community association and cultural activities.In terms of educational attainment, the lower the level of education, the more pronounced the age-related decline in social trust and participation compared with people with higher education.

Place of residence also makes a difference: people over 55 living in rural areas record the lowest levels of trust and participation. In larger urban areas, this same group stands out for greater social and cultural participation compared with others in their age group.

Following their analysis, the researchers identify older people without tertiary education (those with primary, secondary, vocational or upper secondary education), those living in rural areas and, in general, older men as among the groups with the lowest levels of social connection. They therefore propose raising awareness of and nurturing social connections by encouraging older people to participate more actively, facilitating access to social and cultural meeting spaces for people without tertiary education, and improving opportunities for older people in rural areas to rebuild their social ties.

Wellbeing after 65 is linked to how time is experienced and valued

The third project presented, Time Use and Happiness in People Aged 65+, analyses how older people allocate their time and how this relates to their wellbeing. The research team conducted a study involving 324 people over 65, recording the time they usually spend on social, physical, learning and volunteering activities, among others, as well as how they value that time, based on the activities they had carried out the previous day.

The main finding is that spending more time on a particular activity does not necessarily translate into greater happiness. By contrast, people who feel that they use their time in ways consistent with who they are, and who have greater control over their time and make better use of it, report higher levels of wellbeing.

The study also shows that older people are not a homogeneous group in how they organise their time. It identifies different profiles according to the activities on which they focus their time: those who devote more hours to voluntary or paid work (8.33% of respondents); those who care for others (33.64%); those who spend more time on self-care and active leisure (36.42%); and those who focus more on household tasks and passive leisure (21.6%).

Differences between men and women were also observed: women spend more time on household tasks and caring for others, although their levels of life satisfaction are similar.

Overall, the findings suggest that wellbeing can be achieved by organising time in different ways, and that there is no single formula that works for all older people. As this is an exploratory study, the researchers stress that the findings do not establish causal relationships.

A shared agenda to address the challenges of longevity

The three projects presented are part of the Bienestar+ Chair’s research agenda, which aims to address the challenges of longevity through scientific evidence. Within this framework, the two indices form part of the Chair’s Observatory, which collects and analyses data on ageing in Spain from a social, employment and economic perspective, and produces indicators to guide social inclusion services and policies.

The indices will be available on the Chair’s website for consultation by interested individuals, institutions and social stakeholders. The Chair will also offer opportunities to collaborate with institutions and companies wishing to use this methodology to collect their own data and develop evidence-based initiatives.