Families and Households of the Elderly Population: Prospects for those Approaching Old Age

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Abstract
Long-term demographic trends that determine the absolute and relative size of the elderly population also underlie changes in the proportions of older people with living spouses and children. Such changes have important implications for residential isolation, the provision of care and the overall quality of life of the old. Demographic trends influencing the family situations of older people in Britain are discussed and detailed projections presented for women reaching age 60 in the period 1971–96. Increases in the propensity to marry and bear children after about 1940, together with declining mortality, mean that the proportions of older women that are married and that have children are likely to increase until the second decade of the next century. It is often assumed that demographic ageing will result in an increase in the number of elderly women living alone. However, the increase in the proportion of them that are married offsets this trend.