One-person Household Research Articles

VIEW OF THE EXPERTS ABOUT THE LIFE PATTERN OF RESIDENTS CONCERNING THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE ADAPTABLE HOUSING

The purpose of this research is obtaining the data for drawing a valid hypothesis about the life pattern of the elderly in connection the basic requirements for the Adaptable Housing. The questionnaire which used the Delphi method was carried out twice to the experts who specialize in elderly people's home life. As a result, it was appropriate to assume the one-person household as one of the life pattern of the elderly. About the ambulation model, it was converged on with wheelchair attended by carer for moving outside, but not converged on one model for going to toilet at night.

Solo travel: Explorative insights from a mature market (Switzerland)

This study examines solo travel, and offers (1) a conceptual framework of solo travelers, (2) a profile of these types of travelers (by socio-demographic characteristics), and (3) a profile of travels (by specific descriptors). The data for this study stem from a comprehensive survey of Swiss travel behavior conducted in 2004 by the University of St. Gallen (Switzerland). The conceptual model is derived from transportation research. It proposes an a priori segmentation of four types of solo travel, delineated on the combination of the (1) departure status (a single, one-person household, compared to a collective, multi-persons household) and (2) arrival status (solo travel, compared to group travel), thus creating a two-by-two matrix with four segments overall. Solo travelers basically either tend to foster an existing social network or try to nurse their curiosity and at the same time look for new social contacts. The results of the profiling further reveal significant differences between the solo travel groups, as well as towards a control group incorporating all other travel. They include income, profession, and age, as well as familiarity with the destination, choice of type of accommodation, expenditures and various types of trips. However, no significant differences can be reported with regard to the choice of destination.

The Effects of Air Pollution on Mortality in Socially Deprived Urban Areas in Hong Kong, China

BackgroundPoverty is a major determinant of population health, but little is known about its role in modifying air pollution effects.ObjectivesWe set out to examine whether people residing in socially deprived communities are at higher mortality risk from ambient air pollution.MethodsThis study included 209 tertiary planning units (TPUs), the smallest units for town planning in the Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong, China. The socioeconomic status of each TPU was measured by a social deprivation index (SDI) derived from the proportions of the population with a) unemployment, b) monthly household income < US$250, c) no schooling at all, d) one-person household, e) never-married status, and f ) subtenancy, from the 2001 Population Census. TPUs were classified into three levels of SDI: low, middle, and high. We performed time-series analysis with Poisson regression to examine the association between changes in daily concentrations of ambient air pollution and daily number of deaths in each SDI group for the period from January 1996 to December 2002. We evaluated the differences in pollution effects between different SDI groups using a case-only approach with logistic regression.ResultsWe found significant associations of nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter < 10 μm, and ozone with all nonaccidental and cardiovascular mortality in areas of middle or high SDI (p < 0.05). Health outcomes, measured as all nonaccidental, cardiovascular, and respiratory mortality, in people residing in high SDI areas were more strongly associated with SO2 and NO2 compared with those in middle or low SDI areas.ConclusionsNeighborhood socioeconomic deprivation increases mortality risks associated with air pollution.

Sex Differences in Consequences of Musculoskeletal Pain

Cross-sectional population-based study. To study sex differences in consequences of musculoskeletal pain (MP): limited functioning, work leave or disability, and healthcare use. MP is a major public health problem in developed countries due to high prevalence rates and considerable consequences. There are indications that consequences of MP differ for men and women. Data of a Dutch population-based study were used, limited to persons 25 to 64 years of age (n = 2517). Data were collected by a postal questionnaire. Women with any MP report more healthcare use for MP, i.e., contact with a medical caregiver and use of medicines than men, while men report more work disability (ever in life) due to low back pain only, irrespective of work status. None of the sex differences can be explained by age, household composition, educational level, smoking status, overweight, physical activity, and pain catastrophizing. Older age was related to more limited functioning due to MP (women), work disability due to MP (men), and healthcare use due to MP (men and women). A one-person household was associated with work disability (women) and use of medicines (men). Low educational level was associated with limited functioning (men), work leave (men), contact with a medical caregiver (men), and work disability (men and women). Smoking was associated with limited functioning (men), work leave (women), and healthcare use (women). Physical inactivity was associated with limited functioning due to MP in women. Pain catastrophizing was associated with limited functioning, work leave, and healthcare use (men and women) and work disability (men). Consequences of MP show a slightly different pattern for men and women. Women with any MPreport more healthcare use for MP, while men report more work disability due to low back pain only. These sex differences can not be explained by general risk factors, but associations between these factors and consequences of MP show some sex differences.

Changes in older people's living arrangements in Flanders, 1993–98

The living arrangements of older people are changing. An analysis of official registration data (1993–1998) in Flanders, Belgium, shows that while the number of single person households has been increasing, the proportion of people aged 75 or more years living alone has been falling and the proportion living with a spouse or partner increasing. No less than one third of the older people who lived alone in 1993 sustain a one-person household into very old age. It was also found that those who are widowed at a very advanced age change house or move very quickly, women to a greater extent and at younger ages than men. The principal destinations are residential care homes and, to a lesser extent, child's households. Living alone appears to be a decreasingly acceptable option. Since very old people with a disability appear to have an increasing preference for residential care and a lessening preference for co-residence with relatives, these developments have consequences for both informal family care and public social services. Particular attention needs to be paid to men who live alone as a risk-group, and residential care provision requires expansion.

Women's health status in Poland in the transition to a market economy

Since 1989 Poland has been experiencing large-scale social and economic changes as a result of the reforms associated with the transition to a market economy. This study uses a 1996 Health Survey of over 20,000 women to examine the impact of the new socio-economic situation and of women's multiple roles on their health at the early stage of transition. We investigated the importance of selected economic, socio-demographic and cultural determinants in explaining differences in women's health status in Poland, focusing on education level, (un)employment, living conditions, marital status, smoking and life style. There are health inequalities between men and women in Poland based on life expectancy, chronic diseases and health self-assessment. Some of these, especially the large differences between life expectancy at working ages, may be attributed to the difficult socio-economic situation. The multivariate analysis of women's self-assessed health and morbidity from selected chronic diseases indicated substantial inequalities in health. Together with the behavioural and cultural risk factors recognized by medicine, such as obesity, lack of physical exercise and smoking, the paper shows the crucial role of economic factors in influencing Polish women's health. Women whose financial position is poor are more likely to assess their health as less than good, to suffer from respiratory and circulatory systems’ diseases and report neurotic problems. Other factors, strongly connected with the transition process in Poland, which contribute to health problems are lack of employment and low educational level, particularly for younger women. Women's marital and parental status are also important predictors of some categories of health problems; however, their influence varies for women of different ages. Our survey also supports the thesis that loneliness in old age, defined on the basis of living in a one-person household, may be negatively correlated with health status.

Persons living alone in Finland

This article examines the characteristics of persons living alone in Finland primarily on the basis of official statistics exhibiting demographic regional and socioeconomic features....Living alone has been [described as a] one-person household. Characteristics used are sex age marital status urban and rural distribution socioeconomic status occupation income and housing. The article ends with a...[discussion concerning] the development of one-person households and the reasons for living alone. (EXCERPT)

Do I have to go shopping again? A theory of choice with movement costs

In this model, the standard theory of the one-person household is extended into space and time. The theory is extended into space by imposition of a real trip cost on the act of purchase, separate from the money price of commodities. It is extended into time by imposition of a real cost of storage (represented by “deterioration”) on the stocks of goods held in the household between shopping trips. The necessity for storage permits the theory to include an endogenous choice of capacity to store as well as choices among consumption, leisure, and shopping trip frequency. By use of duality theory, the comparative static effects of price, wage, and trip costs are examined. Production and transformation within the household are integrated into the model and shown to be covered by the dual approach.

Massive out-migration and change of households composition in a regional population

Effects of out-migration upon households composition are not necessarily fixed. According to variation of demographic characteristics of out-migrants, households com-position may change in different ways. This paper aims to enumerate the size of out-migration and clarify the change of households composition, using the residents-registry on Sakushima (Mikawa-Bay, Aichi-Prefecture) from 1955 to 1977. Here the out-migration are classified into 4 types as follows:(A) Migrants move alone and he or she is a part of members of his or her household on Salcushima.(B) Migrants move alone and he or she is a sole member of the household on Sakushima (at the time of out-migration, he or she lives alone).(C) Migrants move together with other members of his or her household and they are a part of members of their household on Sakushima.(D) Migrants move together with other members of his or her household and they themselves consist of the household. The type of out-migration by age is as follows:(1) Out-migrants of age 0-14 mainly belong to type (C) and (D).(2) Out-migrants of age 15.29 account for over 70% of all out-migrants and over 90% of them belong to type (A).(3) Out-migrants of age 30.44 belong to type (C) and (D).(4) Outrmigrants of age 45-59 belong mainly to type (C) and (D), even though type (B) accounts for over 30%.(5) Almost 70% of out-migrants of age 60 and over belong to type (B). The main streams of households composition change are due to following threeways:(1) A couple and their child(ren) → A couple only(2) Parent and his or her child(ren) → One-person household(3) A couple - One person household In spite of the main stream toward one-person household in the observation periods, the number of one-person households has not increased since 1970. It has been resulted from the increase of out-migration of type (B). This change of households composition side-by-side with the aging of population after a continuous out-migration of younger ages may create an another phase of out-migration.

The One-Person Household: A Consequence of the Isolated Nuclear Family?

The number of people living alone is increasing much more rapidly than the total population of the United States. In the period since 1960, approximately one-third of all new households contain but one person. Data from the one-in-a-thousand sample of the 1960 Census of Population are analyzed to determine the demographic characteristics of the one-person household as well as to formulate explanations for their increase. The hypothesis is advanced that the primary reason for this increase is the dominance of the small nuclear family.