Changes in family related behaviour, the economic activity of women and the living arrangements of older people have raised concerns that the availability of family support for older people may diminish while the numbers needing such assistance increases. Changes in household patterns are themselves important and have considerable implications for support services needed for older people with disabilities, demands for housing of various types and household durables and consumables. The Madrid Plan of Action adopted at the Second World Assembly on Ageing in 2002 called for research on the advantages and disadvantages of different living arrangements for older people.

Aims

The work being undertaken falls into two main parts

Modelling of demographic and other determinants of household type and household type transitions
Modelling of associations between family resources, socio-economic circumstances and social participation.

The overall aims are to:

Improve our understanding of the determinants household type and household transitions (and, in other work packages, use this in projections,) and improve our understanding of the implications of household, family and broader social support for well-being and receipt of help. To provide estimates of number of kin distinguishing important categories, such as partners and numbers of living children by sex and marital status of both generations. This is necessary, since marital status is an important determinant of household structure among older people, and, for example, existence of living children is likely to have very different implications for care of elderly men who divorced when the child was small or who remarried, compared with widowed men. Methods are being developed further to analyse such kinship networks.

Methods

The modelling of transitions between different types of household is being undertaken using data from the ONS Longitudinal Study, a 1% record linkage study of the population of England and Wales. This includes individual level information on sample members, and who they live with, at four census points (1971, 1981, 1991 and 2001). The sample is continuously updated and so remains nationally representative and can be used in cross sequential analyses We are analysing how socio-economic and socio-demographic characteristics influence differences in household type and household type transitions and undertake cross sequential comparisons (for example, (comparing changes between 1981 and 1991 with changes between 1991 and 2001) in order to inform predictions.

We are analysing associations between marital status/history and number of children and both family interaction and other forms of social activity/participation using data from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing and the MRC Cognitive Function and Ageing Survey. We are also investigating associations between contact with family in wave 1 of the survey and receipt of help from family in subsequent waves.

Linkages

Living arrangements and receipt of help form family are important influences on demand for formal care and so there are linkages with Work Package 5. Additionally, results on mortality differentials by marital status and by household type are feeding into Work Package 3, and results from Work Package 3 are being used in assessing implications for the future.

Outputs

As well as contributing to the other models, the output from this Work Package is of interest in their own right and will be disseminated through journal articles and presentations.

Contact

Professor Emily Grundy,
Centre for Population Studies
London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
49-50 Bedford Square
London WC1B 3DP

Tel: 020 7299 4668
Email: Emily.grundy@lshtm.ac.uk

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