Family Disruption and Support in Later Life: A Comparative Study Between the United Kingdom and Italy

Abstract

Global population aging has led to considerable disquiet about future support for frail older people; however, the determinants are poorly understood. Moreover, most industrialized societies have witnessed considerable changes in family behavior (e.g., rises in divorce and declining fertility). Such trends may have adversely affected the support systems of older people; nonetheless, only recently has research begun to address this issue. Employing data from the longitudinal British Household Panel Survey (1991)(1992)(1993)(1994)(1995)(1996)(1997)(1998)(1999)(2000)(2001)(2002)(2003) and the 1998 Indagine Multiscopo sulle Famiglie "Famiglia, soggetti sociali e condizione dell'infanzia," we investigated the association between family disruptions due to divorce, separation, or death and three key dimensions of informal support: (i) frequency of contact with unrelated friends (among all respondents aged 65 years and over); (ii) co-residence with children (among unmarried mothers aged 65 years and over); and (iii) regular or frequent help received from children (e.g., household assistance including care) among parents aged 65 years and over. In addition, we conducted a comparative investigation of the relationship between family disruptions and the use of home care services (i.e., health visitor or district nurse; home help; meals-on-wheels)

Effects of Divorce on Children's Educational Attainment in a Mediterranean and Catholic Society

“…Thus, most of this research has been done in the USA and in the north-western part of Europe: USA (McLanahan and Sandefur 1994;Amato 2001); Germany (Wagner 1997; Engelhardt et al 2002), The Netherlands (Dronkers 1999;Goede et al 1999), Sweden (Murray and Sandquist 1990;Jonsson and Gähler 1997), and the UK (Cherlin et al 1991;Kiernan et al 1998;Ní Bhrolcháin et al 2000). Only recently the first studies on the intergenerational effects of parental divorce have been published for Catholic societies, e.g., for France (Martin 1997: 121;Archambault 2002) and Italy (Tomassini et al 2007;Albertini and Saraceno 2008). Thus, analysing the intergenerational effects for a country, such as Italy, characterized by the great relevance of the Catholic religion and a Mediterranean type of welfare state, may be fruitful, in order to avoid generalization based on just a few, not necessarily representative, societies.…”

“The people I grew up with”: The role of sociodemographic factors in early memories in an Italian sample

“…In Italy 30% or more of the (noninstitutionalised) widowed men and women aged 70 or over co-reside with their children (and/or grandchildren and parents), whereas in Netherlands and the United Kingdom, for instance, the percentages are significantly lower (Gierveld & Van Tilburg, 1999;Tomassini, Glaser, & Stuchbury, 2007). Concerning the prolonged age of staying at home for youth, young Italian men leave the family home 7Á9 years later, and young Italian women 4 years later, in comparison with youth in other EU countries (Barbagli et al, 2003;Santarelli & Cottone, 2009).…”

“…Multigenerational family ties are so strong in comparison with other EU countries that they are considered to be one of the most important Italian characteristics (Barbagli et al, 2003;Di Giulio & Rosina, 2007;Tomassini et al, 2007). To sum up, Italian culture is generally assumed as a strong familial (or family centred) one (Kuijsten, 1996;Santarelli & Cottone, 2009;Tomassini et al, 2007).…”

Intergenerational Relations: Theory, Research, and Policy

“…While this is an important topic for all the articles in this volume, Pillemer et al (2007) use the concept of ambivalence which, they note, arises from conflicts in norms and intergenerational value transmission, often exacerbated by secular changes in values such as independence and norms of family support. Tomassini, Glaser, and Stuchbury (2007) examine this theme directly by considering two nations (Britain and Italy) that differ in individualism and familism. They document how these differences influence family members' willingness to provide both need‐based and non‐need‐based support across generations.…”