Social Participation, Education and Healthy Ageing in Italy

In this paper we aim to analyze the relationship between social participa-tion and education among elderly people in Italy. Social participation, that is a key dimension of active ageing, is divided into three sub-dimensions: cultural participation; socio-political participation and social contacts. Our main research question focuses on the role played by education that can be linked to social participation in at least two ways: i) education may directly influence the acquisition of certain lifestyles and cultural tastes that lead individuals to conduct a more active social life; ii) education can also have an indirect effect through economic resources and health con-dition. To answer these research questions, we analyze ISTAT data (Aspetti della vita quotidiana, 2013-2021) by means of regression (OLS and logistic) and mediation models. Our findings corroborate our hypotheses showing that education has a strong influence on social participation and that the mediation effect is particularly relevant only for social contacts.