Search results

Although coresidence with children when one becomes old is an ideal in Chinese society, the drastic socio-economic development in Taiwan has brought some fundamental changes to living arrangements of the elderly population. The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between family living arrangements and elderly health in Taiwan, given the secular trend of more elderly persons choosing to live with their spouse or to live independently.

The authors utilized panel data from the “1989 Survey of Health and Living Status of the Elderly in Taiwan” with follow-ups up to 2007 to examine how living arrangements of the elderly affect the risk of mortality using discrete-time hazard models. The authors stratified the analyses by the elderly’s preference to coreside with children, and examined whether the effects of living arrangement varied by age, controlling for sociodemographics, health status, health behaviors, and social relationships observed at the baseline.

The authors found that both the associations of living arrangements and coresidence preference with that mortality risk were largely weakened when controlling for other variables. Only among respondents expressing preference for coresidence were living arrangements associated with mortality risks, and these effects increased with age. For those who did not intend to live with children, the authors found no evidence suggesting living arrangements were associated with mortality risks. The dynamics of living arrangements among the elderly and elderly care policies in Taiwan are discussed for further research.

To the authors knowledge, no previous research has examined living arrangements and mortality risks with respect to coresidence preference.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the changes and consequences of the patterns of Chinese elderly population’s living arrangements. It contains information that can be considered for future policy making for the elderly and to gain a better understanding of the social transition in China.

Based on the analysis of the population census data in 2000 and 2010, the authors examined the changes and trends of the living arrangements of the elderly Chinese population. Furthermore, the authors analyzed factors influencing the Chinese elderly’s living arrangements according to the data acquired from the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey.

First, the proportion of the elderly people living with children has been decreasing. Second, the proportions of elderly people “living alone” and “living with spouse independently” has largely increased. Third, the changes and trends showed differences between urban and rural regions.

By looking at the characteristics among elderly people with different living arrangement patterns, those that are “living alone” are typically in disadvantaged conditions, and thus special attention should be paid with regards to related research and policies for the elderly who are “living alone.”

Do the living arrangements of immigrant elderly differ significantly from those for non‐immigrant elderly? If so, are differences between immigrants and non‐immigrants due to population composition or immigration‐based cultural preferences? To answer these questions this research examines the living arrangements of Non‐Hispanic White, Hispanic, and Asian elderly using data from the 1990 Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS). The standardization and multinomial logistic regression results indicate that within each of the racial/ethnic groups immigrants, particularly those aged sixty or older upon arrival, are more likely to live in extended family arrangements and less likely to live independently than elderly non‐immigrants. Furthermore, these differences between immigrants and non‐immigrants are not due to differences in population composition, economic resources, functional limitations, or acculturation. The results suggest that immigration policies are influencing these observed living arrangement differences. The impact of increasing diversity among the older population and potential changes in government policy on the distribution of future elderly living arrangements is discussed.

The purpose of this study is to fill a knowledge gap by analyzing the motivations of tenants to co-living spaces in Klang Valley, Malaysia as the motives of co-living spaces are related to how well that space supports their needs.

Tenants’ behaviors were examined using a convergent parallel mixed-method approach, which included a survey and an in-depth interview. A total of 175 respondents were interviewed using purposive sampling.

The results show that the preference for co-living attributes has changed during the pandemic. User ratings of preference for physical and leasing attributes of co-living spaces are significant in terms of co-living motivations. The findings also revealed that tenants prefer twin-sharing and master bedrooms when choosing a co-living space to stay in.

Identifying the factors that influence such motivations is critical for housing developers and co-living service providers to pay close attention to improving tenants’ living experiences.

There is interest in the co-living spaces that are available for rent. However, very little research is based on an understanding of how the tenants in Klang Valley, Malaysia perceive this type of living arrangement. A better understanding and prediction of tenants’ needs and preferences may lead to a better understanding of the attributes that influence their motivations for using co-living spaces.

This study explores whether and how Internet usage improves the subjective health of middle-aged and older adults by analyzing the mediating role of social engagement and heterogeneity of different living arrangements.

Based on data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study, the ordinary least squares (OLS) method is adopted to explore the relationship between Internet usage and the subjective health of middle-aged and older adults. Propensity score matching method (PSM) is used to alleviate self-selection bias in the samples. The bootstrap method is adopted to test the mediating role of social engagement, and generalized structural equation modeling (GSEM) is employed to resolve endogeneity. A permutation test is adopted to examine the heterogeneous effects of Internet usage on different living arrangements.

Internet access can help relieve depression among middle-aged and older adults and enhance their self-rated health, leading to perceived changes in health status. However, Internet usage is not directly associated with health satisfaction among middle-aged and older adults. Nevertheless, Internet usage can enhance middle-aged and older adults' subjective health by facilitating social engagement and significantly influences middle-aged and older adults living with their children.

This study reveals the underlying role of Internet usage among older adults and provides insights for governments and families to help middle-aged and older adults actively adapt to a digital society and improve their health.

In this paper we develop a conceptual model of the cultural context within which gender and social support affect health among the elderly. We argue that given the highly contextualized and subjective nature of social support, observed associations between social contacts and health cannot be explained using simple survey probes concerning contacts during some period. The research employs two large surveys of older blacks and Hispanics to illustrate the speculative nature of any explanation of the association among various social contacts, disability, and death that are based only on responses to questions concerning the presence or absence of specific contacts. We end with a call for an extension of what is currently common practice in the study of social support and health to include greater attention to the subjective nature of social support and a greater appreciation of the cultural and social contexts within which social support operates to influence the health of older men and women.

The aim of this study is twofold, first, to estimate the prevalence of multiple disabilities among the older population in India; second, to examine the socio economic determinants of multiple disabilities among the older population.

This study used the India Human Development Survey Data (IHDS) for the analysis. Bivariate, multinomial logit regression and multiple classification analysis are used as methods for the study. Disability score is constructed for measuring the multiple disabilities among the older population.

The results of disability prevalence show, a high prevalence of multiple disabilities among the older population in India. Further, disability prevalence varies considerably by age and socio‐economic characteristics of the older population. Among all the socioeconomic factors, economic factor emerged as a dominant predictor of prevalence of disabilities among the older population in India. The findings of the dimension specific assessment reveal that the disability in walking is the highest among all the disabilities. The distribution of disabled older population by living arrangement and the social network indicates that a large proportion of disabled older population lives with their children. In addition, only a few of the disabled older people have social networks. The distribution of disabled older people by employment and financial source reveal that there is a meager government support to the disabled older population in India. This study evidently suggests that a significant number of older populations in India are suffering from multiple disabilities. The number of multiple disabilities increases with the decrease in the socioeconomic status. The living arrangement and financial security assessment suggest that there is an increasing need of children and government support to the disabled older population.

The distinctiveness of this study can be primarily found in the type of the data used, the assessment of additional disability dimensions, and the inclusion of differentials such as living arrangement, social network and work status as part of the analysis. Overall, the study with its robust statistical assessment provides a number of key insights into the social, economic security, and health care needs of the disabled older population in India.

This paper analyzes the situation of women 85 and over using the United States Census public use sample for 1990 involving individual census records of 154,008 women and men It provides weighted population estimates. Data is presented on the oldest disability levels for men and women, the level of economic need, living arrangements, and access to a car. International comparisons from the Luxembourg Income study of elderly men and women's poverty level are also examined. Current proposals in the United States for cutbacks at the federal level in health care, income assistance and social services are examined with respect to their disproportional impact on oldest old women.

Urbanisation is trending globally, leading to population densification and housing shortage and people living increasingly in isolation. This entails challenges to sustainable development including ecological, social and well-being issues. This paper aims to evaluate the effects of a six-month onboarding self-leadership programme including exercises in mindfulness and acceptance and commitment therapy, amongst residents in a co-living space (n = 24) and a waiting list (n = 21).

At baseline and post-intervention, participants filled out questionnaires and two waves of in-depth interviews (n = 24) were conducted. Repeated measures one-way analysis of variance and thematic text analyses were performed.

Participation in the programme significantly (all ps < 0.000 to 0.050) improved relationship quality and communication about one’s needs regarding work-non-work boundaries, especially amongst residents at the co-living space. Moreover, programme participation significantly increased perceived work-non-work boundary control, work-life balance, psychological well-being, psychological flexibility and self-compassion, with effect sizes (hp2) in the medium to the large range (0.14 to 0.39). Qualitative findings suggested that increased psychological flexibility and self-compassion encouraged co-living residents to be more vulnerable and trusting, which enabled communication regarding one’s needs and enhanced mutual social support and relationship quality. This, in turn, improved overall boundary management, work-life balance and well-being.

Co-living settings – while contributing to overall sustainable development through more efficient use of space and resources – can also contribute to societal and individual sustainability. However, to ensure this contribution, the physical environment including private areas and common and semi-public areas, as well as the socio-emotional environment need to be considered.

The main objective of this paper is to analyze patterns of consumption expenditure and the effects of income, prices and socioeconomic and demographic factors on demand among elderly- and young-adult-headed households in Brazil.

The authors estimated a Quadratic Almost Ideal Demand System demand system using the main household consumption good groups – food, housing, clothing, transportation, health care and other expenses – with data from three Brazilian Household Budget surveys.

The study results showed that elderly- and young-adult-headed households have different consumption patterns. The consumption of food, transportation and health care was more price-sensitive for households headed by the elderly, while higher income increases health care expenses in elderly-headed households to a greater extent than it does in younger-headed households.

The limitations are due to the structure of the data used, such as the effects of seasonality and individualized demand analyses, and sample design in the estimates. However, due to the structure of the demand models, which when estimating by seemingly unrelated regressions do not allow to take into account the sample design.

As a consequence of population aging, the Brazilian economy will experience changes in the composition of household consumption, mainly for food, housing, transportation and health-care-related products.

This paper fulfills the lack of studies that analyze the consumption patterns and how demand varies across different types of elderly-headed households in a developing country, such as Brazil.