The impact of education on time use of elderly population in Serbia
Authors: Sobot Ankica 
Published: February 2016

The active ageing concept, which implies individual and broader social
benefits, is defined for mitigating the negative effects of intensive
population ageing. It redefines the perception of ageing in accordance with
the positive trends in terms of health and life span of older persons' life.
One of the factors which has certain impact on some aspects of active ageing
is education. The researches confirm its influence on the health and vitality
of the elderly, as well as on their economic activity. It is important not
only as a dimension of socio-economic status, but also from the perspective
of certain behavior, the availability of learning, the possibility of
adopting valid information and the use of new technological achievements for
the purpose of healthy lifestyle. The top ten countries in 2015 regarding
Active Ageing Index have up to four times higher shares of highly educated
persons among those aged 50 or over (between 23% and 34%), compared to the
countries which are at the back of the AAI list. However, Italy is ranked
second, regarding the participation in society despite the fact that less
than 10% of persons aged 50 or over are highly educated. By contrast, Estonia
has only high index in employment, while in relation to the other spheres is
very low ranking, regardless there are 34% of highly educated among persons
aged 50 or over. The first example shows that it is possible to achieve
partial progress despite low prevalence of high education. Another indicates
that the attainment in active ageing can be limited by other factors despite
high proportion of highly educated. It is possible to conclude that in either
of these two cases high education did not impact, but that these
characteristics of active ageing are the consequences of other factors.
Participation in society, in addition to volunteering and political
engagement, implies caring for children or the elderly. It is possible that
the incidence of these activities have more important influence on the
positioning of Italy in this sphere. Relatively high index of employment
could be explained by the influence of socio-economic conditions and the
necessity of working engagement of older persons due to social security and
living standards of households. This could be said for Estonia because it is
placed into the group of countries with lower GDP per capita. The research
regarding the time use in Serbia, used in this paper as the framework for
studying the lifestyle of older people, shows that the paid work is the most
evident differentiation between those who have entered the older age (65 or
older) and those who are on the threshold of this limit (55-64 years).
Regarding leisure time, it is clear that more passive forms (watching
television and resting) prevail. Reading, walking, visiting, spending time
with family and the provision of informal help partially mitigate this
picture. However, weak commitment to cultural events and physical activity,
poor involvement in different spheres of social life, almost the absence of
voluntary work and additional training undermine the concept of active
ageing. Highly educated persons have the most of leisure time but, in
relation to persons with lower educational levels, there is no substantial
differentiation regarding the activities that mark active ageing. In
comparison with others, they spent less time watching TV and movies as well
as resting, but more time walking, visiting, reading, using a computer or
providing informal support. Tertiary education has proved to be a point of
differentiation among females who approach the entry into older age. It does
not only mean more time in paid work, but also less time in unpaid
activities, compared to women with lower educational levels. In addition,
highly educated women aged 65 or over more frequently perform paid jobs than
those with primary education. It is not the specificity of male population.
High education did not eliminate the specificities of overpowering cultural
pattern of gender roles. Men more engage in paid jobs and have more leisure
time, while women spend more time in performing household tasks. Women more
devote to reading books, going to the cinema, volunteering, and the
participation in religious activities as compared to men. Male respondents
spend more time resting, exercising and visiting sport events. However, in
both cases passive forms of leisure time prevail, although there are some
specificities. In comparison with those who had lower educational levels,
highly educated persons evaluated their health as good or very good two times
more frequently, but it has not resulted in significant difference in terms
of commitment to the activities that mark active ageing. The widespread of
tertiary education does not mean unconditional acceptance of this model. In
addition to social conditions, living circumstances and cultural norms,
lifestyle is important as an advantage or a disadvantage for the realization
of active ageing. Lower education levels are an additional challenge in terms
of advancing all preconditions for accepting and spreading the model of
active aging.