ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the approach in which well-being is drawn from individual consumption. It reviews the minimum rights approach, and it is outlined why this approach is not ideal for the assessment of personal well-being of older people. The chapter looks at the merits of health as an additional dimension of well-being in its own right and discusses the relevant conceptual issues. The US ageing-related statistical agencies have collaborated to create a comprehensive set of indicators that can be followed over time to target efforts to improve the lives of older Americans. Health is identified as an important dimension of personal wellbeing of older people. The standard-of-living approach takes command over resources as its point of departure and introduces the idea that individuals, families and households differ in their sharing and conversion of resources to attain a given standard of living.
