Abstract
In many developed countries those aged 80 years and over constitute the fastest growing section of the population. Thewell-being and support of this group is therefore of increasing significance and the availability of family support for the oldest-old a matter of keen concern to policy makers. Studies of the social networks of older people, including the oldest-old, have shown that friendships are very important for well-being and morale (and so for health) and that those lacking close kin develop stronger relationships with more distant relatives and with friends (Wenger 1984, 1996). Nevertheless, friends play only a minor role in the provision of personal and domestic care to older people in need of assistance. In Britain, other Northern European countries and North America most of this care is provided by close relatives and to a lesser extent by professional care workers (Arber and Ginn 1990; Sundström 1994; Havens 1997).
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsPreview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Arber, S., and Ginn, J. (1990) “The meaning of informal care: Gender and the contribution of older people”, Ageing and Society, 12:429–454.
Bassuk, S. S., Glass, T. A., and Berkman, L. F. (1999) “Social disengagement and incident cognitive decline in community-dwelling elderly persons”, Annals of Internal Medicine, 131(3):165–173.
Blaxter, M. (1990) Health and Lifestyles. London: Tavistock/Routledge.
Bowling, A. (1994) “Social networks and social support among older people and implications for emotional well-being and psychiatric morbidity”, International Review of Psychiatry, 6:41–58.
Bowling, A., Farquhar, M., and Grundy, E. (1995) “Changes in network composition among the very old living in Inner London”, Journal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology, 10:331–347.
Bowling, A., Farquhar, M., Grundy, E., and Formby, S. (1993) “Changes in life satisfaction over a two and a half year period among very elderly people living in London”, Social Science and Medicine, 36:641–655.
Bowling, A., and Grundy, E. (1998) “The association between social networks and mortality in later life”, Reviews in Clinical Gerontology, 8:353–361.
Cafferata, G. L. (1987) “Marital status, living arrangements, and the use of health services by elderly persons”, Journal of Gerontology, 42:613–8.
Carriere, Y., and Pelletier, L. (1995) “Factors underlying the institutionalization of elderly persons in Canada”, The Journals of Gerontology: Social Sciences, 50B:S164–S172.
Cheung, Y. B. (2000). “Marital status and mortality in British women: A longitudinal study”, International Journal of Epidemiology, 29:93–99.
Colhoun, H., and Prescott-Clarke, P. (1996). Health Survey for England 1994, Vol. 1, Findings. London: Her Majesty’s Stationery Office.
Crimmins, E. N., and Ingegneri, D. G. (1990) “Interaction and living arrangements of older parents and their children”, Research on Aging, 12:3–35.
Dolinsky, A. L., and Rosenwaike, I. (1988) “The role of demographic factors in the institutionalization of the elderly”, Research on Aging, 10(2):235–257.
Fabrigoule, C., Letenneur, L., Dartigues, J. F., Zarrouk, M., Commenges, D., and Barberger-Gateau, P. (1995) “Social and leisure activities and risk of dementia: A prospective longitudinal study”, Journal of the American Geriatric Society, 43(5):485–490.
Fratiglioni, L., Wang, H.-X., Ericsson, K., Maytan, M., and Winblad, B. (2000) “Influence of social network on occurrence of dementia: A community-based longitudinal study”, Lancet, 355(9212):1315.
Glaser, K., Murphy, M., and Grundy, E. (1997) “Limiting long term illness and household structure among people aged 45 and over, Great Britain 1991”, Ageing and Society, 17:3–20.
Goldman, N., Korenman, S., and Weinstein, R. (1995) “Marital status and health among the elderly”, Social Science and Medicine, 40(12):1717–1730.
Grundy, E. (1996). “Population review: the population aged 60 and over”, Population Trends, 84:14–20.
Grundy, E. (1999) “Household and family change in mid and later in England and Wales”. In: McRae, S. (ed.), Changing Britain: Families and Households in the 1990s. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 201–228.
Grundy, E., Ahlburg, D., Ali, M., Breeze, E., and Sloggett, A. (1999) Disability in Great Britain: Results from the 1996/97 Disability Survey. Department of Social Security Research Report. London: The Stationery Office. ISBN 0-11-762571.
Grundy, E., Bowling, A., and Farquhar, M. (1996) “Social support, life satisfaction and survival at older ages”. In: Caselli, G., Lopez, A. (eds.), Health and Mortality Among Elderly Populations. Oxford: Clarendon Press, pp. 135–156.
Grundy, E., and Glaser, K. (1997) “Trends in, and transitions to, institutional residence among older people in England and Wales, 1971 to 1991”, Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 51:531–540.
Grundy, E., Mayer, D., Young, H., and Sloggett, A. (2004) “Living arrangements and place of death of older people with cancer in England and Wales: A record linkage study”, British Journal of Cancer, 91:907–912.
Grundy, E., Murphy, M., and Shelton, N. (1999) “Looking beyond the household: Intergenerational perspectives on living kin and contacts with kin in Great Britain”, Population Trends, 97:19–27.
Grundy, E., and Shelton, N. (2001). “Contact between adult children and their parents in Great Britain 1986–1999”, Environment and Planning A, 33:685–697.
Grundy, E., and Sloggett, A. (2003) “Health inequalities in the older population: The role of personal capital, social resources and socio economic circumstances”, Social Science and Medicine, 56:935–947.
Hahn, B. A. (1993) “Marital status and women’s health: The effect of economic and marital acquisitions”, Journal of Marriage and the Family, 55:495–504.
Havens, B. (1997) “Long-term care into the 21st century”, Bold, 7:2–4.
Hébert, R., Brayne, C., and Spiegelhalter, D. (1999) “Factors associated with functional decline and improvement in a very elderly community-dwelling population”, American Journal of Epidemiology, 150(5):501–510.
Hu, Y., and Goldman, N. (1990) “Mortality differentials by marital status: An international comparison”, Demography, 27(2):233–250.
Kramarow, E. A. (1995) “The elderly who live alone in the United States: Historical perspectives on household change”, Demography, 32:335–352.
Lye, D. N., Klepinger, D. H., Hyle, P. D., and Nelson, A. (1995) “Childhood living arrangements and adult children’s relations with their parents”, Demography, 32:261–280.
Magaziner, J., Cadigan, D. A., Hebel, J. R., and Parry, R. E. (1988) “Health and living arrangements among older women: Does living alone increase the risk of illness?”, Journals of Gerontology, 43(5):M127–M133.
Martin, J., Meltzer, H., and Elliot, D. (1988) “OPCS surveys of disability in Great Britain, report 1”. The Prevalence of Disability Among Adults. London: HMSO.
Mor, V., Murphy, J., Masterson-Allen, S., and others. (1989) “Risk of functional decline among well elders”. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, 42:895–904.
Murphy, M., Glaser, K., and Grundy, E. (1997) “Marital status and long-term illness in Great Britain”, Journal of Marriage and the Family, 59:156–164.
Murphy, M., and Grundy, E. (2003) “Mothers with living children and children with living mothers: The role of fertility and mortality in the period 1911–2050”, Population Trends, 112:36–45.
Murphy, M., and Wang, D. (1999) “Forecasting British families into the 21st century”. In: McRae, S. (ed.), Changing Britain: Families and Households in the 1990s. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 100– 137.
National Statistics. (2005) “Report: 2003-based marital status and cohabitation projections for England and Wales”, Population Trends, 121:77–84.
Ogawa, N., and Retherford, R. D. (1997) “Shifting the cost of caring for the elderly back to families in Japan: Will it work?”, Population and Development Review, 23:59–96.
Prioux, F. (1993) “L’infecondite en Europe”. In: Blum, A., Rallu, J.-L. (eds.), European Population Vol. 2, Demographic Dynamics. Paris: John Libbey Eurotext.
Sarwari, A. R., Fredman, L., Langenberg, P., and Magaziner, J. (1998) “Prospective study on the relation between living arrangement and change in functional health status of elderly women”, American Journal of Epidemiology, 147(4):370–378.
Saunders, P. A., Copeland, J. R., Dewey, M. E., Gilmore, C., Larkin, B. A., Phaterpekar, H., and Scott, A. (1993) “The prevalence of dementia, depression and neurosis in later life: The liverpool MRC-ALPHA study”, International Journal of Epidemiology, 22(5):838–847.
Shaw, C. (1999) “1996-based population projections by legal marital status for England and Wales”, Population Trends, 95:23–31.
Shaw, C., and Haskey, J. (1999) “New estimates and projections of the population cohabiting in England and Wales”, Population Trends, 95:7–17.
Speare, A., Avery, R., and Lawton, L. (1991) “Disability, residential mobility, and changes in living arrangements”, Journals of Gerontology, 46:S133–S142.
Sundstrom, G. (1994) “Care by families: An overview of trends”, Caring for Frail Elderly People. Paris: OECD, pp. 15–55.
Umberson, D. (1992) “Gender, marital status and the social control of health behavior”, Social Science and Medicine, 34(8):907–917.
Van Imhoff, E., and Keilman, N. W. (1991) LIPRO 2.0: An Application of a Dynamic Demographic Projection Model to Household Structure in the Netherlands. Amsterdam: Swets & Zeitlinger.
Verbrugge, L. M. (1979) “Marital status and health”, Journal of Marriage and the Family, 41:267–285.
Waite, L. J. (1995) “Does marriage matter?”, Demography, 32:483–507.
Wall, R. (1989) “The residence patterns of the elderly in Europe in the 1980s”. In: Grebenik, E., Hohn, C., Mackensen, R. (eds.), Later Phases of the Family Cycle: Demographic Aspects. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 222–244.
Weeks, J., Heaphy, B., and Donovan, C. (1999) “Families of choice: Autonomy and mutuality in non-heterosexual relationships”. In: McRae, S. (ed.), Changing Britain: Families and Households in the 1990s. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 297–315.
Wenger, G. C. (1984) The Supportive Network: Coping with Old Age. London: Allen and Unwin.
Wenger, G. C. (1996) “Social networks and gerontology”, Reviews in Clinical Gerontology, 6:285–293.
Wolf, D., and Soldo, B. (1988) “Household composition choices of older unmarried women”, Demography, 25:387–403.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2006 Springer
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Grundy, E., Murphy, M. (2006). Marital Status and Family Support for the Oldest-Old in Great Britain. In: Robine, JM., Crimmins, E.M., Horiuchi, S., Yi, Z. (eds) Human Longevity, Individual Life Duration, and the Growth of the Oldest-Old Population. International Studies in Population, vol 4. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-4848-7_19
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-4848-7_19
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-1-4020-4846-3
Online ISBN: 978-1-4020-4848-7
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and LawSocial Sciences (R0)