2. Measuring Living Standards and the Potential Factors Underlying Variation in Living Standards

This chapter presents an overview of the analysis aims of the research; different approaches to measuring living standards and the rationale for the living standards indicator approach adopted; and describes the potential explanatory factors of variation in living standards that were investigated in the current research. The research involves two central analyses as depicted in Figure 2.1. The first is the construction of a measurement scale that is then used to describe the living standards of older people across a continuum from hardship to comfort. Once this has been achieved, the second central analysis investigates the factors that explain differences in living standards across this group.