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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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| Living alone in later life | | Author(s) | Jim Ogg |
| Corporate Author | Institute of Community Studies |
| Publisher | Institute of Community Studies, London, 2003 |
| Pages | 232 pp (Research report, no 2) |
| Source | Institute of Community Studies, 18 Victoria Park Square, London E2 9PF. |
| Keywords | Living alone ; Personal relationships ; Family relationships ; Social surveys. |
| Annotation | Empirical data is used to determine whether the experience of living alone in later life (and in middle age), and the way in which social relationships are organised is significantly different from the past. Three sources of data are used: the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS) 1991-1998; the 1995 British Social Attitudes Survey (McGlone et al's analysis of kinship networks); and data from "The family and community life of older people" (Centre for Social Gerontology, Keele University, 2001). The report examines definitions of living alone, and presents empirical findings since the 1950s. It looks at sociological theories that can illuminate "late modernity" in the contemporary experience of living alone in later life. It presents research findings on socio-demography and social networks, and discusses the repercussions for old age. The findings provide little evidence that living alone represents a weakening form of family ties or other forms of informal networks, though different pathways to living alone do influence how social relationships are made, maintained and renewed. The report concludes with hypotheses on how social support will be accessed by future cohorts of older people living alone. (RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-040519001 B |
| Classmark | K8: DS: DS:SJ: 3F |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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