The increasing proportion of persons living alone has come to be emblematic in many ways of modern Western societies because it represents the importance conceded to the individual and to individual goals at the expense, basically, of the family. Solo living has been interpreted within the context of changing values and preferences, changing personal and conjugal realities, and the changing work contexts so often associated with the Second Demographic Transition. We know little about patterns and trends in living alone over the life course in much of the world because most research to date has concentrated on regional and national portrayals or on living arrangements in later life. This study provides a systematic look at the differences in living alone by age and sex in 113 countries. Our aim is to understand the extent to which behavior differs around the world and the implications this has for society. We also examine the relationship between trends in living alone and levels of human development. Results are taken from three massive datasets: census and survey microdata from IPUMS‐international, Demographic Health Surveys, and EU‐Labor Force Surveys.
This study analyses whether care providing strategies for non-institutionalized older adults have changed in the context of a new system of long-term care that emanated from the 2006 "Dependency Act", and a lingering economic crisis. The Spanish sample of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (waves 2006 and 2013) is employed to analyse how different individual and household factors affect care strategies, distinguishing between informal (co-resident and non-resident) carers, formal carers and combined formal and informal care, using descriptive statistics and multinomial logit regression. Results show that availability, co-residence and the proximity of children are the main determinants of informal care provision to elders in need. Some externalization of informal care from the domestic domain also took place between 2006 and 2013 as well as an increase in multiplecare arrangements. In the discussion, we comment on why the new Spanish care system that was developed during the economic boom but implemented during the bust years may have consolidated informal care through the economic compensation of mainly family carers. Future research should investigate whether the increase in combined formal and informal care is because of preferences of potential family caregivers or due to a lack of alternatives.
Objectives We study the role of marital status and living arrangements in mortality among a 50? population living in Europe by gender and welfare states. Methods Using data from waves 4, 5, and 6 of the Survey of Health Age and Retirement in Europe (n = 54,171), we implemented Cox proportional hazard models by gender and age groups (50-64 and 65-84). We estimated pooled models and separated models for two regions representing different welfare states (South-East and NorthWest). Results Among people aged 50-64, nonpartnered individuals (except never-married women) showed a higher mortality risk as compared with those partnered. Among the older population (65-84), divorce was associated with higher mortality among men, but not among women, and living with someone other than a partner was associated with higher mortality risk as compared to those partnered. In the SouthEast region living with a partner at ages 50-64 was associated with lower mortality. Conclusions Partnership and residential status are complementary for understanding the role of family dimensions in mortality. The presence of a partner is mortality protective, especially among 50-64-year-old men in SouthEast Europe.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
customersupport@researchsolutions.com
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.