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Data from the Longitudinal Study of Aging are used to examine the incidence of nursing home admissions over a six-year period (1984-1990) among older adults (70+ at T1) living in four different residential contexts. Bivariate analysis identified significant differences between residence groups. Elders from less urbanized and thinly populated nonmetropolitan counties had the highest likelihood of admissions, while older residents of large metropolitan areas had the lowest. In multivariate models, differences by residence could not be accounted for by sociodemographic, health, and social support network characteristics that are known to influence admissions. Further research is needed to identify the specific community context factors that account for variation by place of residence in admissions experiences.

This study examines variation in filial responsibility expectations‐the extent to which adult children are expected to assist and care for their aging parents‐among a sample of 440 older persons. The analysis focuses on the relationship of filial responsibility expectations to residential location and tests the hypothesis that older rural residents have higher expectations for assistance from their children than do older urbanites. Current residential location is found to have little impact on expectations, but older persons who were raised in rural areas, particularly on farms, have significantly higher expectations for filial assistance than do older persons from urban backgrounds. Possible consequences of these patterns for the transmission of expectations from parents to children are discussed.

Using census data and an innovative technique for describing the composition of households from the perspective of elders, this research provides a more detailed description of race differences in living arrangements of older persons than has previously existed. In addition, cross tabulations of race with other factors known to influence household composition (gender, age, and area of residence) are examined. While white women are more likely than black women to live alone, the reverse is true among men. Whites are more likely than blacks to live in married-couple-only households, and blacks are more likely than whites to live in multigenerational households, although these differences decrease with advancing age. Blacks are also more likely than whites to live with collateral kin or non-kin only, although these categories comprise small proportions of the population. Implications of these differences for caregiving and quality of life among older persons are discussed.