Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Research Note: Revisiting the Classification of Household Composition Among Elderly People

  • Published:
Journal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The note updates comments written a decade and a half ago on our need for a standard schemata for comparing the living arrangements of elderly people around the world. Perforce limiting our view to populations living in private households, the note considers different schema beginning with an examination of household size and head/nonhead data and proceeding to schemes using ever more detailed data on “relation to household head” information and data on marital status. The best scheme will of course depend on the data available and on the study's theoretical ideas, but if the ideas have to do with the nature of the family then it would seem that one is best off using a combination of information on people's relation to the household head and information on marital status to indicate family household composition. The six-category scheme (alone, spouse only, with married child[ren], with unmarried child[ren], with other relatives, with non-kin) might best be collapsed into a bivariate or trivariate categorical dependent variable for purposes of multivariate regression.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Aquilino, William S. and Khalil R. Supple. 1991. Parent-Child Relations and Parent's Satisfaction with Living Arrangements When Adult Children Live at Home Journal of Marriage and the Family 53 (February):13-27.

    Google Scholar 

  • Arias, Elizabeth and AlbertoPalloni. 1999. Prevalence and Patterns of Female-Headed Households in Latin America: 1970–1990 Journal of Comparative Family Studies 30(2):257-79.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ayad, Mohamed, BernardBarr□re, and JamesOtto. 1997. Demographic and Socioeconomic Characteristics of Households. Demographic and Health Surveys Comparative Studies No. 26. Calverton, Maryland: Macro International Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bongaarts, John. 2001. Household Size and Composition in the Developing World in the 1990a Population Studies 55:263-79.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bongaarts, John and ZacharyZimmer. 2002. Living Arrangements of Older Adults in the Developing World: An Analysis of Demographic and Health Survey Household Surveys Journals of Gerontology Series B 57(3):S145-57.

    Google Scholar 

  • Burch, Thomas K. 1970. Some Demographic Determinants of Average Household Size: An Analytic Approach Demography 7:61-70.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cowgill, Donald O. 1986. Aging Around the World. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Pub. Co.

    Google Scholar 

  • DaVanzo, Julie and AngeliqueChan. 1994. Living Arrangements of Older Malaysians: Who Coresides with Their Adult Children? Demography 31(1, February):95-113.

    Google Scholar 

  • DaVanzo, Julie and FrancisGoldschedier. 1990. Coming Home Again: Returns to the Nest in Young Adulthood Population Studies 44:241-55.

    Google Scholar 

  • De Vos, Susan. 1990. Extended Family Living Among Older People in Six Latin American Countries Journal of Gerontology: SOCIAL SCIENCES 45(3):S87-94.

    Google Scholar 

  • De Vos, Susan and KarenHolden. 1988. Measures Comparing the Living Arrangements of the Elderly Population and Development Review 14(4):688-704.

    Google Scholar 

  • De Vos, Susan and Alberto Palloni. n.d. Living Arrangements of Elders Around the World. Report to the UN's Population Division, UW-Madison's Center for Demography of Health and Aging.

  • Dixon, Ruth B. 1971. Explaining Cross-Cultural Variations in Age at Marriage and Proportions Never Marrying Population Studies 25(2):215-33.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goldscheider, Francis, Calvin Goldscheider, Patricia St.Clair, and JamesHodges. 1999. Changes in Returning Home in the United States, 1925–1985 Social Forces 78(2, December):695-728.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goode, William J. 1963. World Revolution and Family Patterns. New York: The Free Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goody, Jack. 1983. The Development of the Family and Marriage in Europe. Cambridge, London, New York, Sydney, Melbourne, New Rochelle: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goody, Jack. 1996. Comparing Family Systems in Europe and Asia: Are There Different Sets of Rules? Population and Development Review 22(1, March):1-20.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hajnal, John. 1982. Two Kinds of Preindustrial Household Formation System Population and Development Review 8:449-94.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hammel, Eugene A. 1984. On the *** of Studying Household Form and Function. In Households: Comparative and Historical Studies of the Domestic Group, edited by R. M. Netting, R. R. Wilk and E. J. Arnould. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hammel, Eugene and PeterLaslett. 1974. Comparing Household Structure Over Time and Between Cultures Comparative Studies in Society and History 16:73-109.

    Google Scholar 

  • Himes, Christine L., DennisP. Hogan, and David J. Eggebeen. 1996. Living Arrangements of Minority Elders Journal of Gerontology: SOCIAL SCIENCES 51B(1):S42-48.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kamo, Yoshinori. 2000. Racial and Ethnic Differences in Extended Family Households Sociological Perspectives 43(2):211-29.

    Google Scholar 

  • Keilman, Nico. 1988. Recent Trends in Family and Household Composition in Europe European Journal of Population 3:297-325.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kinsella, Kevin G. 1990. Living Arrangements of the Elderly and Social Policy: Cross-National Perspective. monograph. Washington, D.C.: Bureau of the Census, Center for International Research.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kinsella, Kevin and Victoria A. Velkoff. 2001. An Aging World: 2001. U.S. Census Bureau No. Series P95/01-1. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kramarow, Ellen. 1995. The Elderly Who Live Alone in the United States: Historical Perspectives on Household Change Demography 32(3):335-52.

    Google Scholar 

  • Laslett, Peter. 1972. Introduction: The History of the Family. Pp. 1–89 in Household and Family in Past Time, edited by P. Laslett. London, New York, Melbourne: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Martin, Linda G. 1989. Living Arrangements of the Elderly in Fiji, Korea, Malaysia, and the Philippines Demography 26(4, November):627-43.

    Google Scholar 

  • McGarry, Kathleen and RobertF. Schoeni. 2000. Social Security, Economic Growth, and the Rise in Elderly Widow's Independence in the Twentieth Century Demography 37(2, May):221-37.

    Google Scholar 

  • Miller, R. Robin and Sandra. Lee (eds.) Browning. 1999. With This Ring. Stamford, CT: JAI Press Inc.

  • Nimkoff, Meyer F. (Ed.). 1965. Comparative Family Systems. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Palloni, Alberto. 2001. Living Arrangements of Older Persons. Economic & Social Affairs Living Arrangements of Older Persons (Special Issue Nos. 42/43):54–110.

  • Palloni, Alberto., Muku–arma., and Susan DeVos. 2002. Imputation of Marital Status of Household Members in DHS Surveys, Center for the Demography of Health and Aging, University of Wisconsin-Madison.

  • Palmore, Erdman. 1975. The Honorable Elders: A Cross-Cultural Analysis of Aging in Japan. Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reher, David S. 1997. Perspectives on the Family in Spain Past and Present. Oxford, GB: Clarendon Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reher, David Sven. 1998. Family Ties in Western Europe: Persistent Contrasts Population and Development Review 24(2, June):203-34.

    Google Scholar 

  • Roussel, Louis. 1992. La Famille en Europe Occidentale: Divergences et Convergences Population 47(1):133-52.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ruggles, Steven. 1987. Prolonged Connections: The Rise of the Extended Family in Nineteenth-Century England and America. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ruggles, 1988. The Demography of the Unrelated Individual: 1900–1950 Demography 25(4, November):521-36.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ruggles, 1996. Living Arrangements of the Elderly in America: 1880-1980. Pp. 254–71 in Aging and Generational Relations Over the Life Course: A Historical and Cross-Cultural Perspective, edited by T. K. Hareven. Berlin, New York: Walter de Gruyter & Co.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shanas, Ethel. 1961. The Living Arrangements of Older People in the United States. The Gerontologist 1(1, March):27-29.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shanas, Ethel. 1973. Family-Kin Networks and Aging in Cross-Cultural Perspective. Journal of Marriage and the Family, August:505-11.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shanas, Ethel, PeterTownsend, D. Wedderburn, H. Firis, P. Milhoj, and Jan Stehouwer, editors. 1968. Old People in Three Industrial Societies. New York: Atherton Press

    Google Scholar 

  • Soldo, Beth and PatienceLauriat.. 1976. Living Arrangements Among the Elderly in the United States: A Loglinear Approach. Journal of Comparative Family Studies 7:351-66.

    Google Scholar 

  • United Nations. 1973. Use of Model Headship Rates. Pp. 73–86 in Methods of Projecting Households and Families, edited by United Nations. Population Studies, vol. 54 (Manual VII).

  • United Nations. 1987. Concepts and Definitions of Households, Householder and Institutional Population. Pp. 3–44 in 1987 UN Demographic Yearbook, edited by United Nations. New York: United Nations.

    Google Scholar 

  • United Nations. 1998. Principles and Recommendations for Population and Housing Censuses Revision 1. M, vol. 67/Rev.1. New York: United Nations.

    Google Scholar 

  • United Nations. 2001. Living Arrangements of Older Persons. Ed. Population Division. Special issue of Population Bulletin of the United Nations, 42/43.

  • Wilmoth, Janet M. 2001. Living Arrangements Among Older Immigrants in the United States. The Gerontologist 41(2):228-38.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology, Center for Demography and Ecology, Center for the Demography of Health and Aging, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin

    Susan De Vos

Authors
  1. Susan De Vos
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

De Vos, S. Research Note: Revisiting the Classification of Household Composition Among Elderly People. Journal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology 18, 229–245 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1023/B:JCCG.0000003091.20738.e5

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/B:JCCG.0000003091.20738.e5

Search

Navigation