摘要: 在老龄化持续加深的背景下，老年人社会福祉已成为公共政策研究的重要议题。现有研究多从健康、照料、社区服务、代际支持、数字接入等单一维度展开分析，缺少基于生命历程的整合性解释。本文从生命历程视角出发，梳理老年人社会福祉的形成逻辑，分析生命早期经历、中年阶段资源积累、晚年制度环境之间的连续关系，进而提出具有阶段性和针对性的政策启示。本文采用定性研究路径，主要运用文献分析法与理论综合法。文章以生命历程理论为分析框架，结合国内关于老年教育、代际支持、社区养老服务、志愿参与、数字治理、身体活动等研究成果，归纳老年人社会福祉的关键影响因素及其作用链条。研究发现，老年人社会福祉并非晚年阶段单独生成，而是在长期生命进程中逐步积累。生命早期家庭环境、教育机会、健康基础会影响中晚年的资源储备；家庭支持、社区服务、社会参与、数字条件、身体活动和制度保障共同塑造晚年生活质量；个人能动性在资源转化中发挥重要作用，但能动性的发挥又受家庭结构、城乡环境和公共服务可及性制约。提升老年人社会福祉，需要从补足生命早期发展机会、增强中年风险应对能力、完善晚年支持体系三条路径同步推进。政策设计应强化生命历程意识，兼顾累积效应、关键事件、代际联系和制度供给，通过教育、健康、照护、社区治理和数字包容协同发力，推动老年人社会福祉的持续改善。
Abstract: Against the background of deepening population aging, the social well-being of older adults has become a major issue in public policy and aging studies. Existing studies have examined this topic mainly from separate dimensions, including health, caregiving, community-based services, intergenerational support, digital access, and social participation. However, an integrated explanation from the perspective of the life course remains insufficient. This article aims to analyze the formation mechanism of older adults’ social well-being through a life course framework, clarify the connections among early-life experiences, mid-life resource accumulation, and late-life institutional environments, and then propose policy implications with stronger continuity and practical relevance. This article adopts a qualitative research design and mainly uses literature analysis and theoretical synthesis. Taking life course theory as the core analytical framework, the article reviews relevant Chinese studies on older adult education, intergenerational support, community eldercare services, volunteer participation, digital governance, and physical activity. On that basis, the article identifies the major influencing factors of older adults’ social well-being and summarizes the pathways through which these factors operate across different stages of life. The analysis shows that the social well-being of older adults is not generated only in old age. Rather, it is shaped through long-term accumulation across the entire life process. Early family environment, educational opportunities, and health foundations influence resource reserves in mid-life and later life. In old age, family support, community services, social participation, digital conditions, physical activity, and institutional protection jointly shape quality of life. Individual agency plays an important role in converting resources into well-being. At the same time, the exercise of agency is constrained by family structure, urban-rural context, and accessibility of public services. The article further finds that social well-being in later life is marked by both continuity and heterogeneity. On the one hand, cumulative advantage and disadvantage continue to affect subjective well-being, health status, and participation opportunities. On the other hand, differences in gender, age, residence, education, and family arrangements lead to diverse well-being outcomes. Therefore, understanding old-age well-being requires attention not only to current support conditions but also to the long-term trajectories through which inequality is produced and reproduced. Improving the social well-being of older adults requires coordinated efforts along three lines: compensating for developmental disadvantages in early life, strengthening risk response capacity in mid-life, and improving support systems in later life. Policy design should incorporate a life course perspective, paying attention to cumulative effects, critical events, intergenerational linkages, and institutional supply. A more effective approach should integrate education, health, care services, community governance, and digital inclusion, so as to promote sustained improvement in the social well-being of older adults.