Economic well-being in old age in Italy: does having children make a difference?

Two cross sectional data sources, the 2000 and 2002 Bank of Italy Survey on Household Income and Wealth (SHIW), are used to asses the association between the economic conditions in one's old age and a few covariates, among which past fertility, marital status and living arrangements. For an aged person, having had children does not have any clear impact on current economic status, except that it is associated with fewer assets. However, everything else being equal, having (adult) co-residing children corresponds to worse economic conditions, both objectively (equivalent income, poverty, assets) and subjectively. Prospects are better when there are other grown-up members in the household (especially if they are males), when education is high, and for households located in the North of Italy.