76
R. Pagan
Table 1 (continued)
Mean (SD)
Specification 1
Specification 2
Years of education
12.484
−0.00169
−0.00192
(2.764)
(0.00147)
(0.00147)
German
0.920
−0.112***
−0.114***
(0.0154)
(0.0154)
Log (real household income)
5.375
−0.0976***
−0.0981***
(0.551)
(0.00831)
(0.00831)
Employment status
Full-time (reference)
0.392
–
–
Part-time
0.149
0.00240
0.00168
(0.0109)
(0.0109)
Non-working
0.459
0.116***
0.116***
(0.0103)
(0.0103)
Years
2013
0.414
–
–
2017
0.586
−0.0236***
−0.0245***
(0.00746)
(0.00745)
Regional dummies
–
Yes
Yes
Constant
–
2.033***
2.017***
(0.0625)
(0.0628)
Number observations
42,033
42,033
R-squared
0.088
0.090
Note Robust standard errors in parentheses, stars for significance levels. Individuals aged 16 or
over: ***P < 0.01, **P < 0.05, *P < 0.1
Source Author’s calculations using the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) for the years 2013
and 2017
without disabilities), respectively. As noted earlier, specification 2 includes additional interaction terms between each leisure activity and disability status to detect
any significant effect of leisure activities on loneliness according to disability status.
For people with moderate disabilities, we find statistically significant coefficients
on ‘political initiatives’ (−0.0563 points), and ‘volunteer work’ (−0.0582 points).
Namely, the participation in these two leisure activities reduces even more the levels
of loneliness reported by people with moderate disabilities as compared to the reference person. However, this reduction in loneliness is not great enough to compensate
the positive effect of having a moderate disability on loneliness (0.163 points). For
people with severe disabilities, we find that the participation in ‘meeting family
and friends’ (−0.446 points), ‘doing sports’ (−0.0359 points), and ‘cultural events’
(−0.0686 points) contribute to reducing their loneliness scores compared to the reference person. Once again, none of these reductions compensate the strong positive
impact of having a severe disability on loneliness (0.481 points). With regard to the
R. Pagan
Table 1 (continued)
Mean (SD)
Specification 1
Specification 2
Years of education
12.484
−0.00169
−0.00192
(2.764)
(0.00147)
(0.00147)
German
0.920
−0.112***
−0.114***
(0.0154)
(0.0154)
Log (real household income)
5.375
−0.0976***
−0.0981***
(0.551)
(0.00831)
(0.00831)
Employment status
Full-time (reference)
0.392
–
–
Part-time
0.149
0.00240
0.00168
(0.0109)
(0.0109)
Non-working
0.459
0.116***
0.116***
(0.0103)
(0.0103)
Years
2013
0.414
–
–
2017
0.586
−0.0236***
−0.0245***
(0.00746)
(0.00745)
Regional dummies
–
Yes
Yes
Constant
–
2.033***
2.017***
(0.0625)
(0.0628)
Number observations
42,033
42,033
R-squared
0.088
0.090
Note Robust standard errors in parentheses, stars for significance levels. Individuals aged 16 or
over: ***P < 0.01, **P < 0.05, *P < 0.1
Source Author’s calculations using the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) for the years 2013
and 2017
without disabilities), respectively. As noted earlier, specification 2 includes additional interaction terms between each leisure activity and disability status to detect
any significant effect of leisure activities on loneliness according to disability status.
For people with moderate disabilities, we find statistically significant coefficients
on ‘political initiatives’ (−0.0563 points), and ‘volunteer work’ (−0.0582 points).
Namely, the participation in these two leisure activities reduces even more the levels
of loneliness reported by people with moderate disabilities as compared to the reference person. However, this reduction in loneliness is not great enough to compensate
the positive effect of having a moderate disability on loneliness (0.163 points). For
people with severe disabilities, we find that the participation in ‘meeting family
and friends’ (−0.446 points), ‘doing sports’ (−0.0359 points), and ‘cultural events’
(−0.0686 points) contribute to reducing their loneliness scores compared to the reference person. Once again, none of these reductions compensate the strong positive
impact of having a severe disability on loneliness (0.481 points). With regard to the