The Adverse Consequences of Material Hardship for Mattering in Later-Life

We examine whether material hardship has adverse consequences for older adults’ mattering, and further consider this association in the context of the quality and quantity of older adults’ social interactions. Random- and fixed-effects models estimated using structural equation modeling examine the association between material hardship and mattering in a nationally representative longitudinal survey ( N = 4,009) of older Canadians. Even after taking unobserved time-stable sources of spuriousness into account, material hardship is deleteriously associated with mattering. Frequency of social contact and supportive social interactions partially offset these effects by positively influencing mattering, but the consequences of material hardship for mattering are similar or greater in strength than these relationship resources, and they generally do not buffer the hardship-mattering association. Deficiencies in mattering among older adults are not simply a result of insufficiencies in social relationships, but instead fundamentally shaped by disadvantaged placement in orders of material resources.