The increasing proportion of persons living alone has come to be emblematic in many ways of modern Western societies because it represents the importance conceded to the individual and to individual goals at the expense, basically, of the family. Solo living has been interpreted within the context of changing values and preferences, changing personal and conjugal realities, and the changing work contexts so often associated with the Second Demographic Transition. We know little about patterns and trends in living alone over the life course in much of the world because most research to date has concentrated on regional and national portrayals or on living arrangements in later life. This study provides a systematic look at the differences in living alone by age and sex in 113 countries. Our aim is to understand the extent to which behavior differs around the world and the implications this has for society. We also examine the relationship between trends in living alone and levels of human development. Results are taken from three massive datasets: census and survey microdata from IPUMS‐international, Demographic Health Surveys, and EU‐Labor Force Surveys.

This study analyses whether care providing strategies for non-institutionalized older adults have changed in the context of a new system of long-term care that emanated from the 2006 "Dependency Act", and a lingering economic crisis. The Spanish sample of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (waves 2006 and 2013) is employed to analyse how different individual and household factors affect care strategies, distinguishing between informal (co-resident and non-resident) carers, formal carers and combined formal and informal care, using descriptive statistics and multinomial logit regression. Results show that availability, co-residence and the proximity of children are the main determinants of informal care provision to elders in need. Some externalization of informal care from the domestic domain also took place between 2006 and 2013 as well as an increase in multiplecare arrangements. In the discussion, we comment on why the new Spanish care system that was developed during the economic boom but implemented during the bust years may have consolidated informal care through the economic compensation of mainly family carers. Future research should investigate whether the increase in combined formal and informal care is because of preferences of potential family caregivers or due to a lack of alternatives.

Objectives We study the role of marital status and living arrangements in mortality among a 50? population living in Europe by gender and welfare states. Methods Using data from waves 4, 5, and 6 of the Survey of Health Age and Retirement in Europe (n = 54,171), we implemented Cox proportional hazard models by gender and age groups (50-64 and 65-84). We estimated pooled models and separated models for two regions representing different welfare states (South-East and NorthWest). Results Among people aged 50-64, nonpartnered individuals (except never-married women) showed a higher mortality risk as compared with those partnered. Among the older population (65-84), divorce was associated with higher mortality among men, but not among women, and living with someone other than a partner was associated with higher mortality risk as compared to those partnered. In the SouthEast region living with a partner at ages 50-64 was associated with lower mortality. Conclusions Partnership and residential status are complementary for understanding the role of family dimensions in mortality. The presence of a partner is mortality protective, especially among 50-64-year-old men in SouthEast Europe.

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Life expectancy in Spain is among the highest in the world. Nevertheless, we do not know if improvements in health conditions at older ages have followed postponements of death. Previous studies in Spain show a stable trend in years lived in ill health in the past. In this paper we investigate changes between 2006, 2012 and 2017 in life expectancy with and without disease at age 65 in Spain and, for the first time, in Spanish regions, which have autonomous powers of health planning, public health and healthcare. Results show that, at the country level, disease-free life expectancy reduced between 2006 and 2017 in Spain. This was explained by an expansion of most diseases except for some cardiovascular and respiratory chronic conditions. However, at the regional level the evolution was different, especially regarding each disease and sex. First, regional differences reduced between 2006 and 2012 but largely widened in 2017, suggesting that not all regions had the same ability to recover after the 2008 financial crisis that caused government cuts to health services. Second, regional analysis also highlighted diverging trends by sex. While men experienced expansion of morbidity in most regions, women experienced a compression in about half of them, ending up with women showing higher disease-free life expectancies than men in 9 out of the 17 regions considered. This study, then, calls attention to the importance of focusing the analysis of health surveillance to more disaggregated levels, more in accordance with the level of health management, as regional trends showed heterogeneity in the prevalence of diseases and different progresses in the relationship between sexes.

Changes in population and family structures are altering the provision of care for dependent older people. In Southern European countries like Spain, such care is still largely provided by family, typically spouses and adult daughters. However, an increasing proportion of women have entered the labour force, thereby affecting their availability. To study the demand and supply balance of informal care and to quantify the need for formal care when there is a deficit, we have developed a mixed microsimulation–agent-based model (ABM). Based on nuptiality, fertility and mortality levels of cohorts born at ten-year intervals between 1908 and 1968, the model starts with a microsimulation of the lifecycle of individuals and their close relatives until death. The ABM then determines the amount of time available or needed to care for family members, starting from age 50. Estimates are derived from Spanish survey data on employment, disability and time of care received. Surprisingly, results show that the family care deficit was greater in the older cohorts due to higher mortality and thus a greater impact of widowhood. However, for future elderly persons, we foresee that persistent below-replacement fertility and, paradoxically, the prolongation of the lifespan of couples will increase the demand for formal care as there will be more couples with both members incapacitated but without children to take care of them.

Cambio demográfi co • Características demográfi cas • Censo • Europa • Personas mayores • Formas de convivencia Resumen El artículo analiza la evolución de la vida en solitario de las personas de 65 a 84 años no casadas y que no cohabitan en pareja entre 1991 y 2001 en siete países europeos (España, Francia, Grecia, Hungría, Portugal, Rumanía y Suiza). Para ello se utilizan microdatos censales procedentes de IPUMS (Integrated Public Use Microdata Series). Se examina el papel de cinco variables en la probabilidad de vivir solo frente a la de corresidir con otras personas y se investiga si la evolución observada se debe a cambios en la composición de la población. Adoptamos la regresión logística como técnica de estandarización con los datos censales. Los resultados muestran que los patrones regionales observados permanecen cuando se controla por todas las variables y que se da un aumento generalizado de la vida en solitario en 2001 en todos los países salvo en Rumanía, donde hubiera disminuido de no ser por los cambios en la composición de la población. La estructura demográfi ca (sexo, edad y estado civil) no modifi ca signifi cativamente las proporciones observadas a nivel temporal o regional. En contraste, las variaciones de estructura en cuanto a las variables socioeconómicas (nivel educativo y relación con la actividad) son clave para la explicación de una parte del cambio observado.

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