Social Support and Well-Being: A Comparison of Older Widows and Widowers

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Abstract
This paper investigates several dimensions of the informal support network and well-being among widows and widowers. Using subsets of two random samples of older people living in Winnipeg, Manitoba collected in 1980, one group who were using home care services and another who were not. widowed men and women are contrasted on a number of support network variables, three indicators of well-being, and several socio-demographic and health-related variables. While significant differences arise in length of widowhood, functional ability and some components of the support network, no gender differences are found for the measures of well-being for either sample, even after introducing control variables. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.