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Older Adults Without Close Kin in the United States

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  • Rachel Margolis
  • Ashton M. Verdery

Abstract

Objectives:We document the size and characteristics of the population of older adults without close kin in the contemporary United States.Methods:Using the Health and Retirement Study, we examine the prevalence of lacking different types and combinations of living kin, examine how kinless-ness is changing across birth cohorts, and provide estimates of kinless-ness for sociodemographic and health groups.Results:In 1998–2010, 6.6% of U.S. adults aged 55 and above lacked a living spouse and biological children and 1% lacked a partner/spouse, any children, biological siblings, and biological parents. Kinless-ness, defined both ways, is becoming more common among adults in their 50s and 60s for more recent birth cohorts. Lacking close kin is more prevalent among women than men, native born than immigrants, never-married, those living alone, college-educated women, those with low levels of wealth, and those in poor health.Discussion:Kinless-ness should be of interest to policy makers because it is more common among those with social, economic and health risks; those who live alone, with low levels of wealth, and disability. Aging research should address the implications of kinless-ness for public health, social isolation, and the demand for institutional care.

Suggested Citation

  • Rachel Margolis & Ashton M. Verdery, 2017. "Older Adults Without Close Kin in the United States," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 72(4), pages 688-693.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:geronb:v:72:y:2017:i:4:p:688-693.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/geronb/gbx068
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Berkman, Lisa F. & Glass, Thomas & Brissette, Ian & Seeman, Teresa E., 2000. "From social integration to health: Durkheim in the new millennium," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 51(6), pages 843-857, September.
    2. Susan L. Brown & I-Fen Lin, 2012. "The Gray Divorce Revolution: Rising Divorce Among Middle-Aged and Older Adults, 1990-2010," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 67(6), pages 731-741.
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    Cited by:

    1. Denys Dukhovnov & Joan M. Ryan & Emilio Zagheni, 2022. "“The Impact of Demographic Change on Transfers of Care and Associated Well-being”," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 41(6), pages 2419-2446, December.
    2. Albertini, Marco & Arpino, Bruno, 2018. "Childlessness, parenthood and subjective wellbeing: The relevance of conceptualizing parenthood and childlessness as a continuum," SocArXiv xtfq6, Center for Open Science.
    3. Adriana Reyes & Robert Schoeni & Vicki Freedman, 2021. "National estimates of kinship size and composition among adults with activity limitations in the United States," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 45(36), pages 1097-1114.
    4. Hal Caswell, 2020. "The formal demography of kinship II: Multistate models, parity, and sibship," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 42(38), pages 1097-1146.

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