Social Environment of Elderly Living Accommodations and Its Determinants: Insight from Northeast India

Abstract

The demographic and social changes in India consequences increase the proportion of older adults in the population. Simultaneously, Indian society is transforming from the joint family to the nuclear family system. These two issues together administrated serious implications on the support and care of the elderly. The concept of the social environment of veterans living accommodations is important because it helps us identify the caregivers. With this backdrop, the study aims to get an overview of the status of veteran living arrangements of India’s northeast and identification of the different social, economic and demographic determinants of elderly living arrangements in north-eastern states of India. The empirical analysis in the paper is facilitated based on the report of the National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO) 60th round (2004–2005). The Multinomial logistic regression model is employed to pinpoint the factors affecting elderly living arrangements in northeast India. The empirical result divulges that the majority of the older adults in northeast India and India also live with the spouse and other members of the family, viz., children and grandchildren. Regarding the socio-demographic-economic factors, the study discloses that age, number of surviving children, marital status, number of dependent and persons financially supporting are the paramount decisive factors of the elderly living arrangements in northeast India. However, it is noteworthy that even after strong family value a significant portion of older adults is obligated to live alone. The study concludes with suitable policy suggestion to improve the social support system for the elderly in northeast India.