Population aging has led to an increased recognition of the problems encountered by older persons. As a consequence, the most recent years have been marked by a series of changes with regard to the organization and provision of social services for dependent older people. The aim of this article is to identify factors associated with the quality of life in old age, using a logistic regression applied to the data collected following a field survey among the beneficiaries of social services. The analysis revealed that men are more likely to appreciate that life does not make sense, compared to dependent elderly women. Age is also a significant factor that influences the quality of life: the older the people are, the more they tend to think in a positive manner about their life. Health, social participation and food are also important factors that influence the perception regarding the quality of life.

In families that have at least one parent working outside the country’s borders, known in the literature as transnational families, family solidarity is undergoing changes. The aim of this paper is to explore the process of transforming family solidarity in the context of migration and to identify the effects of the family solidarity on children left behind. A qualitative research methodology was employed consisting in 24 in-depth interviews with parents and grandparents from transnational families, in the two Romanian regions with the highest number of children left behind and with high poverty rates. Our results show that the decrease of material and financial support provided from the parent left abroad has great implications for the feeling of unity with the family and for the material and emotional well-being of children. The risk factors for the children are a lack of financial support, which translates to material deprivation and creates the context for school dropout, lack of emotional support, and poor closeness between the child and departed parent, which relate to a disrupting emotional experience for the children. Findings provide new insights in capturing the relationship between family solidarity and the well-being of the child.

Even if there are consistent studies on the issue of transnational families, research is still needed to address the parental role changes in these families. The aim of this article was to identify the main changes in the parental roles of Romanian transnational families as a result of the parents’ labor migration. We used interviewing as the research method and directed content analysis to analyze the data. Purposive sampling was conducted in order to identify the interviewees. The results captured important role changes regarding the income provider role of the parent, but especially the role of emotional support provider that the parent should take on for the children. These findings highlight the need to develop specific measures to address the possible negative effects that affect these transnational families.

In the context of population aging, we have witnessed an increased interest in studying the participation of older persons in cultural and sport activities. The aim of this paper is to identify the participation rate in cultural and sports activities among Romanian older adults and the sociodemographics/behavioral variables that correlate with the participation rate in cultural and sports activities. In order to answer our research questions, we employed a questionnaire-based survey, and we used a nationally representative sample. Results point to low participation in both cultural and sports activities. Gender, residence, education, income, degree of mobility, internet connection, and availability of financial resources are significant variables that correlate with the engagement of older people in cultural and sports activities. Our study could serve as a base for concrete policy measures in the field of health and social inclusion of older persons.