Living arrangements of the elderly in the United States in 1910

The living arrangements of elderly people in the United States in the early twentieth century are studied with a new data source, the Public Use Sample of the 1910 U.S. Census. The living arrangements of old people in 1910 do not match the stereotypes of extended family households; most households contained no more than one conjugal couple. Unlike today, however, most elderly people lived with at least one child. This research tests hypotheses which are suggested by demographic, economic, and cultural explanations for change in the household structure of the elderly over time. Demographic estimation techniques are used to measure the availability of kin with whom elderly people could reside. Log linear models are estimated to test the importance of economic resources, numbers of children, and race in determining the living arrangements of elderly widows. Numbers of children, among elderly women, and race, among elderly men, are shown to significantly affect the probabilities of living alone and living with children in 1910. Comparing models from 1910 and 1980 suggests that the effect of income on the probability of living alone has changed over the course of the twentieth century in the United States; however, this comparison also suggests that the whole set of relationships which determine living arrangements, including values about privacy, has been altered and that it is impossible to identify one factor as the primary agent of change

Resolving inconsistencies in trends in old-age disability: Report from a technical working group

In September 2002, a technical working group met to resolve previously published inconsistencies across national surveys in trends in activity limitations among the older population. The 12-person panel prepared estimates from five national data sets and investigated methodological sources of the inconsistencies among the population aged 70 and older from the early 1980s to 2001. Although the evidence was mixed for the 1980s and it is difficult to pinpoint when in the 1990s the decline began, during the mid- and late 1990s, the panel found consistent declines on the order of 1%-2.5% per year for two commonly used measures in the disability literature: difficulty with daily activities and help with daily activities. Mixed evidence was found for a third measure: the use of help or equipment with daily activities. The panel also found agreement across surveys that the proportion of older persons who receive help with bathing has declined at the same time as the proportion who use only equipment (but not personal care) to bathe has increased. In comparing findings across surveys, the panel found that the period, definition of disability, treatment of the institutionalized population, and age standardizing of results were important to consider. The implications of the findings for policy, national survey efforts, and further research are discussed