Living Arrangements and Care Receipt Among Older People - SFI

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on their own (Glaser et al., 1998). In addition, 28% of women and 23% of men aged 65
and over stated that they would prefer the assistance of a only professional carer in their
own home in such a situation (Glaser et al., 1998).
Table 2 shows that, with the exception of Denmark, in most countries in the European
Union (selected countries shown), the great majority of care received by older people is
provided by family members. There is, however, considerable variation across countries,
with a higher proportion of older people receiving care from family members in Southern
European countries.
6. Demographic trends
6.1 Marital Status
In the last three decades the proportion of married men and women aged 65 and over
increased in almost all countries considered (Figure 5). The increase in the proportion of
older married women from 1971 to 2001 has been small in some countries (Netherlands,
Sweden, Denmark and France), while it has been over 7 per cent in others (Spain, Italy,
Portugal, Austria and Germany). The increase in the number of married men is less
marked, and for some countries is negligible (e.g. for Sweden). It is useful to stress that
changes in marital status of the older population are determined by demographic and
other factors. Improvements in life expectancy have resulted in an increase in the joint
probability of spouses surviving together into old age. It is important to remember that
for some countries divorce was not introduced until the 1970s (e.g., Italy and Portugal).
Furthermore remarriage among the older people has increased: in 2001, among married
people aged 50 and over in the UK, remarried persons represented 15.7 per cent of the
total for men and 14.3 per cent for women. Additionally, a higher proportion of older
cohorts never-married: for example, 12 per cent of English women born in 1910 nevermarried
compared with only 5 per cent of those born in 1936 (Haskey, 1993).
According to these trends the proportion of older women who have a spouse is higher
today compared to 30 years ago, while for men it has not changed significantly. In the
future we may expect a higher proportion of never-married persons, and a higher
proportion of divorced people, even if remarriage is more common than in the past.
6.2 Fertility
In many Northern European countries (e.g., Belgium, Sweden, Germany and England and
Wales) cohorts born in the 1920s and in the 1930s are characterised by lower fertility
combined with higher levels of childlessness (Figure 6). In other countries the proportion
of childless women has not varied greatly across cohorts, even if increases in the
percentage of women without children is a common feature among Western European
countries for those cohorts born after the 1950s. So very old people today may experience
greater scarcity of support from children when compared with those cohorts born in the
40s and 50s who experienced higher fertility levels.
When the cohort fertility rate is considered, there is a similar trend across the countries:
the rate dropped more dramatically in Portugal (from 3.0 to 1.9 children per woman for
the cohorts born in 1930 and 1960 respectively) while it remained basically unchanged in