Living Arrangements and Care Receipt Among Older People - SFI

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DRAFT DO NOT CITE Sweden (Figure 7). Numerous studies have shown that individuals with more children are less likely to live alone at older ages than those with fewer children (Mutchler, 1992, Wolf, 1994). In addition, kin availability has been demonstrated to be an important predictor of changes over time in the pattern of solitary living among older women (Wolf, 1995). The equation fewer children = increase in solitary living has been used as a basis for the concern in the future about the possible increase in the demand for formal care services for frail older people lacking intra-household informal support. It is possible though that, despite a smaller number of children with whom the older parent can coreside, the outcome “living with children” may be achieved through different strategies. Declines in fertility may have an important effect on co-residence only if the number of childless women increases, as having one child may be sufficient for coresidence (Palloni, 2001). Furthermore fewer children may imply a smaller “crowding” effect behind decisions concerning leaving the parental home or children may receive more economic benefits in staying with their parents, postponing their decision to live independently. Parents may also invest more in their only child in order to keep him/her closer to them. A recent study in Italy showed that parental housing assistance played an important role in later life proximity between parents and children and the effect was mitigated when other children were available (Tomassini, 2003). If we consider the timing of fertility, again similar patterns occur across European countries. Recent cohorts show very similar mean ages at fertility of cohorts born in the 1930s (Figure 8). This pattern shows how the mean generation length (i.e., difference between mother’s and child’s age) among older women will be similar to that experienced by generations born in the 1960s (even though these cohorts had fewer children). The timing of fertility (i.e., age of the mother at the last birth) determines to a large extent whether or not young adult children are still in the parental home when parents reach their 50s and 60s, although trends in home leaving are also important. Additionally later ages at childbirth may mean that adult children are still relatively “young” when their parents begin to experience poor health and disability. 6.3 Female labour-force participation Rising female labour-force participation has led to concerns that increasing commitments outside the home will conflict with women’s ability and willingness to continue as important sources of care for elderly relatives, thereby potentially increasing the dependence of frail older people on state support (Dooghe, 1992). Among women aged 45-60 in Northern European countries more than a half are economically active (88.2 per cent in Sweden and 76.9 in Denmark) with a similar, though slightly lower figure (55.4 per cent) for Portugal (Figure 9). In addition, whilst the vast majority of employed women in this age group in Northern Europe are working part-time (77.8 in the Netherlands and 47.5 per cent in the UK), the majority of employed women in Italy (84.8 per cent) and in Portugal (79.7 per cent), even within this age range, are working fulltime (New Cronos). 6.4 Life expectancy Lack of comparable health measures has been one of the key factors influencing the use of mortality indicators as proxies for the general well-being of older people. According to
DRAFT DO NOT CITE the most recent estimates life expectancy at age 65 ranges from 16.7 years in Denmark to 20.9 years in Sweden, with Southern European countries in better shape than Northern European countries (both Spain, France and Italy have a value greater than 20 years) (New Cronos). In the 1970s instead, life expectancy at older ages was higher for Northern European countries. With regard to health, the European Community Household Panel collected information on several dimensions of health, including self-perceived health status; limitations in activities of daily living; any physical or mental health problem, illness or disability; cutdown in activities over the past two weeks because of health problems. These indicators have such different meanings for respondents in different European countries that they are unlikely to reflect real differences in health status but are more likely to reflect differences in attitudes to health or slight differences in question wording. 7. Attitudinal trends Another interesting point raised in many studies about older people is different attitudes among family members toward the care of frail older people. According to the Eurobarometer survey, there is still a strong feeling of reciprocity and altruism among both young adults and older people: a third of the young people interviewed in the European Union think that that their generation has a responsibility towards older people and just 5% say that they would not like to have to take care of elderly relatives (European Commission 1997). Figure 10a and b shows the proportion of people aged 40 and under and aged 40 to 64 who report that older people should go into a residential or nursing home when they are no longer able to manage on their own. Young Northern Europeans were more likely to consider the option of a residential or nursing home for frail older people (41% of the Swedes against just 2% of the Italians) (Figure 10 a and b). There has been little change in these attitudes over time (i.e., 1992-1999) and there are few differences between the generations (i.e., those aged 40 and under compared with those aged 40 to 64). Despite the common feeling of responsibility toward older people, younger generations have different ideas about the potential provision of assistance to their own frail elderly parents. Figure 11 shows that 73% of Spaniards and 51% of Italians would help their frail elderly parents by going to live with them compared with 34% of British and 10% of Danish children (Figure 11). 8. Principle component analysis The aim of this analysis is to investigate how European countries are grouped according to the demographic, health, attitudinal measures used in this paper to describe the living conditions of older people. The idea is to synthesise the multidimensional space into a smaller one, in order to detect an underlying structure in the relationships between variables. The variables used in this analysis are: • demographic (proportion 65+ in 1970 and 2000, female life expectancy at 65 in 1970 and 2000, childless in cohort 1930, TFR for cohort 1930, mean age at fertility for
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