CARICOM CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME (CCDP)

National Census Report 2001, St. Vincent and the GrenadinesTable 10.1: Total Elderly (Aged 65+) by Union Status and Sex, 2001Union StatusTotal % Male % Female %Total 7 753 100.00 3 402 100.00 4 351 100.00Legally Married 2 905 37.47 1 766 51.91 1 139 26.18Common Law union 421 5.43 277 8.14 144 3.31Visiting Partner 49 0.63 36 1.06 13 0.30Married But Not in Union 174 2.24 107 3.15 67 1.54Legally Separate 64 0.83 31 0.91 33 0.76Widowed and Not in Union 1 614 20.82 396 11.64 1 218 27.99Divorced and Not in Union 181 2.33 103 3.03 78 1.79Not in a Union 2 271 29.29 656 19.28 1 615 37.12Don't Know/Not Stated 74 0.95 30 0.88 44 1.01The proportion of the elderly that were married but not in union, divorced or legally separatedwas minimal (5.40 per cent), with not much difference between the males and females.10.4 Living ArrangementsOverall, the majority of the elderly (59.05 per cent) lived in households where three or fewerpersons lived together, while one in every four of them lived in two-person households, (Table10.2). Apart from living with one other person, the elderly were more likely to have lived alone(18.83 per cent), than to have lived with two other persons, or more. This high incidence ofindependent living is an indication of the elderly having the ability to care for themselves.The elderly males (23.13 per cent) were more likely than elderly females (15.47 per cent) to havelived independently on their own. Furthermore, the elderly males (61.08 per cent) were alsomore likely than the elderly females (57.46 per cent) to have lived in smaller households of threeor fewer persons.121