Abstract
Regional variations in access to local family networks has implications for future care burdens in different regions as well as the living conditions for both older and younger generations. The geographical distance between family members is a long-term consequence of accumulated migration and non-migration undertaken by the individual as well as other family members. This study contributes to this subject through offering a description of regional disparities in the access to local family networks among 60-year olds in Sweden. Additionally, this paper aims to analyse this pattern as an outcome of long-distance migration processes. The empirical study is based on Swedish register data, with a focus on 60-year olds in Sweden, linking them to their adult children, siblings and parents as well as in-laws. The dataset includes total population, where it is possible to identify family networks in their geographical context on various geographic scales, down to a neighbourhood level. As expected, results indicate that families in metropolitan areas are the most concentrated geographically while the left behind parent, embedded in a local network in their own and older generation, is a small category in urban areas but quite common in some rural municipalities. It is also shown that access to local family networks not only varies on a broad rural–urban scale but also locally, between neighbourhoods within metropolitan areas.
Highlights
In an ageing society there are substantial regional variations in terms of the number of elderly people in relation to people of working age
Amenity-rich locations on the islands of Öland and Gotland and eastern part of Skåne in the south are areas where a significant proportion of the 60-year olds lack a local family network, supposedly because they have moved to the region, away from their kin
The landscape of local family networks is shaped by migration events throughout the life course, both their own migration and the migration undertaken by other family members
Summary
In an ageing society there are substantial regional variations in terms of the number of elderly people in relation to people of working age. The need for formal care is potentially higher if there is less informal care, and in regions where few elderly have a local family network, pressure increases on the public sector to provide support. This study focuses on the regional differences of proximity between family members and the demographic processes that produce geographic variation in access to local family networks among the elderly. Sweden is known to have a strong welfare state, informal support is an important addition to the formal support provided by the welfare state in terms of the care provided to the elderly, the sick, and towards the care of children (Sundström, et al 2006; Szebehely 2006). Chan and Ermish emphasise that the latent family support should not be neglected and that geographic proximity is crucial
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