Living Alone Among Older Adults in Canada and the U.S.

Abstract

Increasing proportions of people, including older adults, live alone. Studying living arrangements of the elderly is important because these affect and reflect general well-being of the elderly and inform communities’ response to elderly housing needs. We analyze data from the 2006 Canadian Census and the 2006 American Community Survey to examine living alone among non-married older adults aged 55 and older in Canada and the U.S. The paper has two parts. First, we compare native- and foreign-born elderly to see if immigrants are less likely to live alone. Second, we examine factors associated with living alone among older immigrants. While older immigrants in both countries are less likely to live alone, the large differences are substantially reduced once various explanatory variables are considered. Comparisons of four gender/country groups of older immigrants show the positive role of economic and acculturation factors on living alone among older immigrants. With few exceptions, predictors of living alone are similar for older immigrants in Canada and the U.S.: living alone is mainly explained by a combination of economic and acculturation factors, taking demographic variables into account. Findings underline the need for age-friendly housing with innovative design and technology that can accommodate older people who live alone, including older immigrants who may have different needs and cultural preferences.

Impact of COVID-19 outbreak on mental health and perceived strain among caregivers tending children with special needs

“…Moreover, elders are also considered a high risk group for COVID-19 infections ( Nicola et al, 2020 ). Compared to western countries, the prevalence of elders living alone in developing countries is very low ( Lee & Edmonston, 2019 ; Sundström et al, 2009 ). Although a trend in increase number of nuclear elders is developing, in a national survey, it was found that only 2% Indian elders live alone and 9% live with their spouse.…”

Analysis of The Demand for Older Adult Care Services and Related Influencing Factors Among Older Adults Living Alone in China

“…This is a signi cantly higher percentage of older adults expecting to live independently in China compared with older people in general. For instance, a comprehensive report on living arrangements of older adults showed that more than 70% older people in less developed countries co-resided with children [30]. Based on the responses to our questionnaires, we observed that the primary reason for older adults living alone was to avoid bothering their children, while secondary reasons were not having a child or their child was unable to provide care.…”

Creating Age-Friendly Communities: Housing and Technology

“…This special issue of Healthcare on "Creating Age-Friendly Communities: Housing and Technology" is timely, comprising twelve papers [16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27] that traverse and intersect across the fields of gerontology, health and social care, social sciences and gerontechnology.…”

“…Recommendations were proposed as a way of improving the lives and social connectedness of older citizens, while for many participants living in rural locations, the use of technology such as Skype was greater for maintaining a connection with children and grandchildren living across the country or on a different continent. Lee and colleagues [22] explore in their body of work "Living Alone Among Older Adults in Canada and the U.S.", Canadian and American data sets to understand the living arrangements of older adults and how one's living arrangement can affect wellbeing, whilst informing respective housing needs. In a second part of the data analysis, they explore the various factors of immigrants who live alone.…”

“…Living arrangements and environments in the broadest sense are explored in this volume of work as to how they impact on ageing. Supporting nursing home residents in meaningful activities [25], the impact of living alone [22], the use of aids and adaptations to support well-being [19] and the importance of public green space [16,26] all contribute to a discussion as to how to create an age-friendly environment. Importantly, a number of included papers highlight the 'expert' role older people have in their daily experience of the environments in which they live [26] and research in this area needs to move away from technological innovations that are not rooted in this expertise.…”