Families and Aging
Gero 300
Chapter 11
Oct 2008
What does Family Mean?
• A group of people related by blood, marriage or
adoption
• Def of family 11.1 page 273
• Families are divided into nuclear and extended,
but family membership may change over time
(page 272)
• Nearly all the elderly are members of a family
regardless of household living arrangements
• In the past the odds of 3 generations living at
the same time was low.
Families
• See table 11.2 page 274
• Collectivist societies prefer multi-generational
living.
• In past, Western families did not revere their
elders and wealth played a large part in status
and treatment of the aged-The Golden Rule-he
who has the gold makes the rules.
• State support may have reduced tension in
families who could not afford to look after elderly
Structure of Aging Families
• Marital Status-married seniors are healthier and
live longer and non-married, widowed, divorced
• Unmarried seniors in particular females are
more frequently in care
• Older men are more likely married than older
women-but advanced age creates more
widowhood. For women this is an expected life
event and older males can marry younger
females. Widows often do not want to remarrylook at factors of education and children
Marital status
• High proportion of elderly in future will be
divorced due to late life divorce-50% of all
women over 65 in 2025 will not be in a marriage.
• What will be the economic impact?
• Living Arrangements-are a factor of marital
status-impacted by institutionalization and
gender
• 60% of elderly men live with their wives only (a
couple household), a very different picture for
women (p 280)
Living arrangements
• Men tend to rely on wives for care while women
rely on children and friends
• Women experience changes in living status in
later life and this has implications for housing,
health and social support.
• Living Alone-16% of males and 35% of females
over 65 live alone-see table 11.4 page 281
• Higher increase in female life expectancy, higher
ratio men to women and declining fertility means
competing for space in children’s homes
Living arrangements
• Seniors may be able to afford and choose to live
on their own (pension improvements). Issues of
privacy, independence and individualism
• Multi-generational living-2001 2.2% 65-74 lived
in a three generational household-7% of
Canadians live with other relatives and about
13% of elderly live in some kind of multigenerational living arrangement. Count in factors
of ethnicity and immigrant families-see page 283
Structure of Extended Families
• Vertical extension-more than one generation
alive but each generation is smaller –horizontal
shrinkage
• Reconstituted or blended families-families
formed from remarriage and children of divorce
• Mid-Life families p.284-sandwich generationcare demands of children and aging parents.
Care-giving to parents mainly occurs after
children have left home. Look at empty nest,
cluttered nest and boomerang issues-page 285
Family structure
• Economic factors and diminished opportunities
play a role in adult children returning home and
returning home gives a social and economic
advantage to some young adults that others lack
• Impact on marriage-research shows mothers
like the idea, but the boomerangers can be quite
disruptive with an average stay of 6 months to
two years.
• Intergenerational stake-preservation versus
autonomy
Introduction
• Families are the source of strong emotional
bonds but have the potential for interpersonal
conflict
• The family is the core element of the individual’s
social support system which are reciprocal in
nature and result various kinds of assistance
and exchanges over the life course.
• Social Support System: Family, friends, social
and religious organizations
Support Networks
• Emotional and Instrumental support.
• Variables include-age, sex, longevity of
relationship, geographical proximity
• Old people are firmly embedded in networks
within which are divisions of labour
• Studies show remarkable stability in the
networks, note factors of divorce, remarriage,
education, geography, employment moves.
• Convoy model of social relations
Social Support
• Women more likely to sustain network than men
• Women have more people in their networks and
have more frequent contacts with more complex
levels of relationships. This does open the door
to network friction and conflict
• Changing Family Structures: Nuclear and
extended family have changed-factors to
consider: demography-quantitative and
qualitative aging. The “stripped down” family
with more complex social interactions
Social Support
• Declining mortality-more complex kinship
relationships, intergenerational family ties, living
sibs, surviving husbands, increased divorce
rates (50% of all marriages by year 2000)
• Results in verticalization of family systemsincreases links with preceeding and subsequent
generations with an overall increase in the
number of generations in a family alive at the
same time.
Marital Issues
• 2000 52% of females 65-74 were married and
26% 75 +
• For males 74 and 71% respectively
• Males seldom marry older women than
themselves. Married people report greater wellbeing, better health, lower mortality.
• Family life cycle-evolution of family over life
course. Conservative model did not account for
divorce rates of 50%
Marital Issues
• This raises issues of single parenting, second or
multiple families and accumulation of children.
Typical model only applies to a small percentage
of families.
• Need to add to model-post childbearing
retirement, early retirement, late retirement-last
three can last 30+ years of adult life.
• Marital satisfaction over life course-high early,
lower during childrearing, rise during retirementissues of role conflict and multiple role demands
Marital Issues
• 74% of all divorces are before 40 and 1.3% after
65
• < 3% of marriages last 50+ years
• Compatibility across the life span includes
similar interests, values, goals, abilities, conflict
resolution. Long term relationships give enduring
social support, improved mental health, and
overall well-being.
• Enduring role strain may predict sustainability
Sexual Activity
• Overall sexual activity declines with age-men
report less decline than women.
• This is across all sexual behaviors, but
satisfaction in sexual behavior continues across
the life cycle. Issues such as monotony,
psychological fatigue, changes in appearance,
decreased interest post menopause, erectile
dysfunction. Interest in sexual behavior and
activity can last into old old age.
Sexual Activity
• In women the i.mportant predictor of continued
sexual activity was being married-42%-2.7%
married to singles. This is not as significant for
males 47%-31%
• Gender and Marriage-traditional marriages have
traditional roles. Wives are influenced by
husband’s perceptions of marriage, personality
traits, energy, positiveness, health. Husband’s
strongest influenced by his own health
perception
Marital
• Males derive more benefits from marriage than
females and therefore have a higher degree of
satisfaction. Men confide in their spouses while
women are more likely to mention children or
friends.
• Parent Child Relationships-More than 50 years
growing together. There are now tiers of parent
child relationships over several generations. The
relationship is permanent and involuntary
Child/Parent
• Older persons with positive child parent
relationships are less likely to be depressed or
lonely with higher morale and life satisfaction
• Six basic issues that cause C/P conflict in adult
years-communication, lifestyles, personal habits,
child rearing practices, religion, politics.
• Social Interchange-Intergenerational solidarityfamilies adjust living arrangements to reflect
changing needs and resources of different
generations
Social Exchange
• Issues of economic and health needs influence
involvement and proximity
• Families can re-constitute themselves in later life
• Issues of social class are a factor on education
and employment and as a result the amount and
kind of social support
• Intergenerational Solidarity-6 componentsfrequency of interaction-amount-positive
sentiments towards family-shared values and
beliefs-service exchange-proximity
Social Exchange
• Being concerned and staying in touch with
elderly parents is a predictor of the amount of
support children will provide their parents when
required
• Dysfunctional relationships will affect normative
responses
• Family tension, chronic disease, cognitive
decline can result in elder abuse by acts of
omission or commission. This can result in
neglect, financial exploitation and physical
abuse.
Social Support
• Emotional abuse may be prevalent but difficult to
assess and prove.
• Sexual abuse is much more difficult to determine
and often goes un-reported.
• Elder Abuse can range from 1-11% of the elderly
and in some cases it would not be seen as
abuse by the stressed caregiver or the adult
child who was treated badly by their parents and
feels this is expected behavior.
Social Support
• Factors such as mental illness, drug addiction
and previous abuse histories are significant
variables in determining elder abuse.
• Divorce and Remarriage-Changes the nature of
the parent/child relationship and obligations
• Who cares for step-parents? Are there gender
differences in response to blended families?
• Ties may be weaker between parents and
families in step-families and therefore support
systems may not be intact
Sib Relationships
• Unmarried elderly about 5%. Rely on totally
different network, but about 75% may have no
support network available.
• They may however be more self-reliant,
independent, and used to being alone.
• Siblings may re-enter the support network
around major illness, retirement, widowhood.
• Grandparenting-50% of north Americans are
GP’s by age 50
GP
• 3 styles of GP-remote, companionate, involved.
• Remote-ritualistic and symbolic
• Companionate-leisure activities, friendly and
easy interaction, norm of non-interference
• Involved-active role in parenting, daily contact,
surrogate roles after divorce or death or single
parenting
• Involved GP may experience decline in wellbeing
GP’s
• Parents model the interaction with GP from their
own interaction with their parents
• Reciprocity and links strengthen
intergenerational activity and vice-versa
• As grandchildren age they may become part of
the support system to their GP’s
• Grandchildren may provide the only links in
divorced families and divorce rates have
changed the family structure and extended kin
networks
Gay Elderly
• Cannot count on traditional support systems and
typically live in their own networks of friends and
significant others.
• Friends are important contacts as they act as
surrogate family members and seniors may rely
heavily on friendships rather than family.
Friendships may change over the life course and
the elderly may have fewer friends but more
intimate ones. This is especially true for widows
who rely more on single sex friends