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Elderly women living alone in Spain: the importance of having children

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  • David Reher

    (Universidad Complutense de Madrid)

  • Miguel Requena

    (Universidad Nacional de Educacion a Distancia)

Abstract

Our goal in this paper is to analyse the extent to which completed fertility, and in particular childlessness, is a valid predictor of living alone at advanced ages, an increasingly important residential option in advanced societies with crucial implications for social policy design and the organization of welfare services. Based on micro-data from the 2011 Spanish population census, logistic regression techniques are used to assess the impact of fertility on living alone among elderly women net the effect of age, marital status, educational attainment, and other standard population controls. Our results show a clear relationship between completed fertility and living alone. Childlessness is strongly associated with living alone, while having offspring acts as a powerful buffer against living alone, particularly in larger families. A relevant conclusion of this study is that a growing deficit of family resources available for the elderly women will take place in those societies where low fertility and high rates of childlessness have prevailed in recent decades, leading to substantial growth in the number of childless elderly women and in the incidence of living alone during later life.

Suggested Citation

  • David Reher & Miguel Requena, 2017. "Elderly women living alone in Spain: the importance of having children," European Journal of Ageing, Springer, vol. 14(3), pages 311-322, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:eujoag:v:14:y:2017:i:3:d:10.1007_s10433-017-0415-6
    DOI: 10.1007/s10433-017-0415-6
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. David Reher & Miguel Requena & María Sanchez-Dominguez & Alberto Sanz-Gimeno & Nieves Pombo, 2021. "A survey of baby booms and busts in 20th century Spain," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 45(41), pages 1255-1268.
    2. Run-Ping Che & Mei-Chun Cheung, 2022. "Community-Dwelling Older Adults’ Intended Use of Different Types of Long-Term Care in China and Its Associated Factors Based on the Andersen Behavioral Model," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(18), pages 1-16, September.
    3. Glenn Sandström & Lena Karlsson, 2019. "The educational gradient of living alone: A comparison among the working-age population in Europe," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 40(55), pages 1645-1670.
    4. Albert Esteve & David S. Reher & Rocío Treviño & Pilar Zueras & Anna Turu, 2020. "Living Alone over the Life Course: Cross‐National Variations on an Emerging Issue," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 46(1), pages 169-189, March.
    5. Giorgi, Julien & Boertien, Diederik, 2020. "The potential impact of co-residence structures on socio-demographic inequalities in COVID-19 mortality," SocArXiv 84ygx, Center for Open Science.
    6. Mikołaj Szołtysek & Bartosz Ogórek & Radosław Poniat & Siegfried Gruber, 2020. "Making a Place for Space: A Demographic Spatial Perspective on Living Arrangements Among the Elderly in Historical Europe," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 36(1), pages 85-117, March.
    7. Anna Baranowska-Rataj & Anita Abramowska-Kmon, 2019. "Number of children and social contacts among older people: the moderating role of filial norms and social policies," European Journal of Ageing, Springer, vol. 16(1), pages 95-107, March.
    8. 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.
    9. Marlena Piekut, 2020. "Living Standards in One-Person Households of the Elderly Population," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-26, January.
    10. Reher, David S. & Requena, Miguel & de Santis, Gustavo & Esteve, Albert & Bacci, Massimo Livi & Padyab, Mojgan & Sandström, Glenn, 2020. "The COVID-19 pandemic in an aging world," SocArXiv bfvxt, Center for Open Science.

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