In 2001, Mirowsky and Ross found that economic hardship related depression decreases with age, suggesting increasing surviving experience as one gets older. We test whether this pattern found in the United States can be generalized to other developed nations. Based on data from the European Social Survey (2006–2007) for 23 countries, multilevel analyses shows that the moderating role of age is in itself dependent on the socio-political context. The hardship–depression link is not significantly different across the life course in the Nordic and Bismarckian regimes, it increases in the Southern and Eastern European countries and decreases in strength in the Anglo-Saxon welfare states. Our findings suggest that welfare state regimes play a significant role in attenuating, boosting or even reversing the health effects of social experiences such as economic hardship and aging. Health knowledge gained through research that ignores the socio-political context might be limited in terms of generalization.