Later Life Satisfaction and Household Structure: Living with Others and Living Alone

Abstract

ABSTRACTIn a survey of 1,400 older Americans over 65, two household structures, elders living with others and elders living alone, were compared with older married couples. Results indicated that elders living with others had a greater degree of incapacity and lower income than married couples, but on most indices there were few differences. Elders in three-generation families had somewhat lower general life satisfaction, but the greatest number of elderly people with low life satisfaction were widows who lived alone. Widows living alone were less likely than married couples to own their homes and more likely to perceive that their income was inadequate, that transportation needs were unmet and that no one would care for them in an emergency, all conditions strongly associated with low life satisfaction.