Jan E. Mutchler

A Longitudinal Analysis of Household and Nonhousehold Living Arrangements in Later Life

Most explanatory models of living arrangements in later life link the decision process surrounding choice of living arrangement to personal resources such as income and health. Applications of these models, however, are based for the most part on crosssectional rather than longitudinal data. In this paper we examine living arrangements in later life among the nonmarried population aged 55 and over, using data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation. We observe individuals as they change living arrangements, die, or become institutionalized. Our results suggest that economic resources dominate the decision-making process in transitions across different household arrangements, whereas health is most important in explaining institutionalization.

The Living Arrangements of Unmarried Elderly Hispanic Females

In this paper we examine the influence of cultural preferences on living arrangements for a sample of older unmarried Hispanic and non-Hispanic white females. We develop a conceptual framework composed of three sets of factors: availability of kin, economic and health feasibility, and cultural desirability. Our analyses show that household living arrangements among Hispanic and non-Hispanic females are more similar when we control for these three sets of factors, and that cultural desirability factors are particularly important. The likelihood that elderly Hispanic females will reside in an institution is actually decreased, however, when we control for these factors; this finding suggests a strong reluctance among Hispanics to use formal long-term care facilities.

Household composition among the nonmarried elderly: a comparison of black and white women.

Differences in household composition between Black and White women have often been explained as resulting from differences in the resources of the two groups, particularly economic differences. A competing viewpoint holds that living arrangements reflect the cultural context within which life choices are negotiated. The purpose of this article is to assess the relative merits of these arguments. In this analysis, the extensive data available in the 1984 panel of the Survey of Income and Program Participation are employed. Indicators of health, kinship, income, and wealth are included in the analysis of living arrangements among Black and White women aged 55 and over. The results indicate that these resources are associated with choice of living arrangements among members of the two groups, but that Black and White women respond differently to levels of wealth and health when making decisions about household composition.