IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/eujoag/v14y2017i3d10.1007_s10433-017-0415-6.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

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

Author

Listed:
  • 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
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10433-017-0415-6
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10433-017-0415-6?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Øystein Kravdal, 2014. "The Estimation of Fertility Effects on Happiness: Even More Difficult than Usually Acknowledged," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 30(3), pages 263-290, August.
    2. Fred Pampel, 1983. "Changes in the propensity to live alone: Evidence from consecutive cross-sectional surveys, 1960–1976," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 20(4), pages 433-447, November.
    3. Maria Iacovou & Alexandra J. Skew, 2011. "Household composition across the new Europe: Where do the new Member States fit in?," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 25(14), pages 465-490.
    4. Frances Kobrin, 1976. "The fall in household size and the rise of the primary individual in the United States," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 13(1), pages 127-138, February.
    5. Sarah Gibney & Liam Delaney & Mary Codd & Tony Fahey, 2017. "Lifetime Childlessness, Depressive Mood and Quality of Life Among Older Europeans," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 130(1), pages 305-323, January.
    6. Diane Macunovich & Richard Easterlin & Christine Schaeffer & Eileen Crimmins, 1995. "Echoes of the baby boom and bust: Recent and prospective changes in living alone among elderly widows in the united states," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 32(1), pages 17-28, February.
    7. Zhenmei Zhang & Mark D. Hayward, 2001. "Childlessness and the Psychological Well-Being of Older Persons," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 56(5), pages 311-320.
    8. repec:cai:poeine:pope_1201_0043 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Iacovou, Maria, 2000. "Health, wealth and progeny: explaining the living arrangements of older European women," ISER Working Paper Series 2000-08, Institute for Social and Economic Research.
    10. Thomas Hansen & Britt Slagsvold & Torbjørn Moum, 2009. "Childlessness and Psychological Well-Being in Midlife and Old Age: An Examination of Parental Status Effects Across a Range of Outcomes," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 94(2), pages 343-362, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. 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.
    2. 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.
    3. 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.
    4. 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.
    5. 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.
    6. 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.
    7. Marlena Piekut, 2020. "Living Standards in One-Person Households of the Elderly Population," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-26, January.
    8. 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.
    9. 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.
    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.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. David Reher & Miguel Requena, 2018. "Living Alone in Later Life: A Global Perspective," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 44(3), pages 427-454, September.
    2. Tatiana Karabchuk, 2016. "The subjective well-being of women in Europe: children, work and employment protection legislation," Mind & Society: Cognitive Studies in Economics and Social Sciences, Springer;Fondazione Rosselli, vol. 15(2), pages 219-245, November.
    3. Karagiannaki, Eleni, 2005. "Changes in the living arrangements of elderly people in Greece: 1974-1999," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 6246, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    4. Mikucka, Malgorzata, 2015. "How does parenthood affect life satisfaction in Russia?," MPRA Paper 65376, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Urszula Ala-Karvia & Marta Hozer-Koćmiel & Sandra Misiak-Kwit & Barbara Staszko, 2018. "Is Poland Becoming Nordic? Changing Trends In Household Structures In Poland And Finland With The Emphasis On People Living Alone," Statistics in Transition New Series, Polish Statistical Association, vol. 19(4), pages 725-742, December.
    6. Gary V. Engelhardt & Jonathan Gruber & Cynthia D. Perry, 2002. "Social Security and Elderly Living Arrangements," NBER Working Papers 8911, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Sarah Gibney & Liam Delaney & Mary Codd & Tony Fahey, 2017. "Lifetime Childlessness, Depressive Mood and Quality of Life Among Older Europeans," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 130(1), pages 305-323, January.
    8. Toni Richards & Michael White & Amy Tsui, 1987. "Changing living arrangements: A hazard model of transitions among household types," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 24(1), pages 77-97, February.
    9. Dolores Pushkar & Dorothea Bye & Michael Conway & Carsten Wrosch & June Chaikelson & Jamshid Etezadi & Constantina Giannopoulos & Karen Li & Nassim Tabri, 2014. "Does Child Gender Predict Older Parents’ Well-Being?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 118(1), pages 285-303, August.
    10. Diane Macunovich & Richard Easterlin & Christine Schaeffer & Eileen Crimmins, 1995. "Echoes of the baby boom and bust: Recent and prospective changes in living alone among elderly widows in the united states," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 32(1), pages 17-28, February.
    11. Alejandrina Salcedo & Todd Schoellman & Michèle Tertilt, 2012. "Families as roommates: Changes in U.S. household size from 1850 to 2000," Quantitative Economics, Econometric Society, vol. 3(1), pages 133-175, March.
    12. Chris M. Herbst & John Ifcher, 2016. "The increasing happiness of US parents," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 14(3), pages 529-551, September.
    13. Thijs van den Broek & Marco Tosi, 2020. "The More the Merrier? The Causal Effect of High Fertility on Later-Life Loneliness in Eastern Europe," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 149(2), pages 733-748, June.
    14. Brian Gratton & Myron P. Gutmann, 2010. "Emptying the Nest: Older Men in the United States, 1880–2000," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 36(2), pages 331-356, June.
    15. Joan Kahn & Frances Goldscheider & Javier García-Manglano, 2013. "Growing Parental Economic Power in Parent–Adult Child Households: Coresidence and Financial Dependency in the United States, 1960–2010," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 50(4), pages 1449-1475, August.
    16. Gary V. Engelhardt & Jonathan Gruber & Cynthia D. Perry, 2005. "Social Security and Elderly Living Arrangements: Evidence from the Social Security Notch," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 40(2).
    17. Frances Goldscheider & Regina Bures, 2003. "The racial crossover in family complexity in the United States," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 40(3), pages 569-587, August.
    18. Eleni Karagiannaki, 2011. "Changes in the Living Arrangements of Elderly People in Greece: 1974–1999," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 30(2), pages 263-285, April.
    19. Susan Short & Frances Goldscheider & Berna Torr, 2006. "Less help for mother: The decline in coresidential female support for the mothers of young children, 1880–2000," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 43(4), pages 617-629, November.
    20. Thomas Hansen, 2012. "Parenthood and Happiness: a Review of Folk Theories Versus Empirical Evidence," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 108(1), pages 29-64, August.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:eujoag:v:14:y:2017:i:3:d:10.1007_s10433-017-0415-6. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.