Gender differences in disability and economic hardship in older Europeans

European women live longer, but they experience more old age-related disability than men. Disability is related to social factors, among which is poverty, through various pathways. While women’s poverty has been pointed up as a challenge for Europe, our study investigates to what extent and in which countries a greater exposure to economic hardship is associated with older women’s disability disadvantage. We used the 2014 EU-SILC data in 30 European countries for men and women aged 50–79 years (N = [1179–17,474]). Disability was measured by self-reported activity limitation and economic hardship by difficulties in “making both ends meet” and “facing unexpected expenses”. Country-specific nested logistic regressions measured the women’s disability disadvantage and its association with economic hardship. We found that activity limitations and economic hardship varied substantially across Europe, being the lowest in Sweden and Norway. We found gender gaps in activity limitations in 23 countries, always to women’s disadvantage. After adjusting for age, this disadvantage was significant in 19 countries. In 11 of these countries, women’s excess disability is associated with excess economic hardship in women, especially in Iceland, France, Sweden, and Austria. Women’s excess disability and social factors such as economic hardship are linked, even in protective countries. These situations of double disadvantage for women deserve attention when designing policies to reduce health inequalities and to promote healthy ageing