Hostname: page-component-77c89778f8-9q27g Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-17T15:37:29.036Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Living arrangements of community-dwelling older Singaporeans: predictors and consequences

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 February 2017

BINA GUBHAJU ,
TRULS ØSTBYE  and
ANGELIQUE CHAN
BINA GUBHAJU*
Affiliation:
Centre for Ageing Research and Education, Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
TRULS ØSTBYE
Affiliation:
Centre for Ageing Research and Education, Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore. Health Services and Systems Research, Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore. Duke Global Health Institute, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, U.S.A.
ANGELIQUE CHAN
Affiliation:
Centre for Ageing Research and Education, Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore. Health Services and Systems Research, Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore. Department of Sociology, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
*
Address for correspondence: Bina Gubhaju, Centre for Ageing Research and Education (CARE), Duke-NUS Medical School, 8 College Road, Singapore169857 E-mail: bina.gubhaju@nus.edu.sg
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

In this paper, we examine predictors and consequences of living arrangements among community-dwelling older Singaporeans. We take a holistic approach and consider a range of social and economic as well as emotional and physical wellbeing indicators. Two waves (2009, 2011) of the Panel on Health and Ageing of Singaporean Elderly (PHASE) are analysed to (a) provide an overview of living arrangements in 2009 and assess the extent to which living arrangements change by 2011; (b) examine the predictors of living arrangements in 2009; and (c) examine the consequences of living arrangements over a two-year period. The majority (88%) of older Singaporeans co-reside with either their spouse and/or children. A small yet growing proportion live with others (5%) or live alone (6%). Very little change in living arrangements is observed over the two years. Our results show that women, the oldest-old and older adults with fewer children are more likely to live alone. Older adults who live alone are not particularly disadvantaged compared to those who live with their spouse and children or spouse only in their social and economic wellbeing. It is, in fact, older adults who live with their children that are disadvantaged in many aspects of social, economic and mental wellbeing. Measures to engage older adults living with their families (along with those living alone and with others) in broader social activities are imperative.

Keywords

living arrangementsliving aloneolder adultshealth and social wellbeingSingapore
Type
Article
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 38 , Issue 6 , June 2018 , pp. 1174 - 1198
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2017 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ansah, J. P., Matchar, D. B., Love, S. R., Malhotra, R., Do, Y. K. and Chan, A. 2012. Simulating the impact of long-term care policy on family eldercare hours. Health Services Research, 48, 2 part 2, 773–91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bongaarts, J. and Zimmer, Z. 2002. Living arrangements of older adults in the developing world: an analysis of demographic and health survey household surveys. Journals of Gerontology: Social Sciences, 57B, 3, S145–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chan, A. 1997. An overview of the living arrangements and social support exchanges of older Singaporeans. Asia-Pacific Population Journal, 12, 4, 35–50.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chan, A., Malhotra, C., Malhotra, R. and Ostbye, T. 2011. Living arrangements, social networks and depressive symptoms among older men and women in Singapore. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 26, 6, 630–9.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chan, A., Raman, P., Ma, S. and Malhotra, R. 2015. Loneliness and all-cause mortality in community-dwelling elderly Singaporeans. Demographic Research, 32, 49, 1361–81.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chen, F. and Short, S. E. 2008. Household context and subjective well-being among the oldest old in China. Journal of Family Issues, 29, 10, 1379–403.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
DaVanzo, J. and Chan, A. 1994. Living arrangements of older Malaysians: who coresides with their adult children? Demography, 31, 1, 95–113.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Day, A. T. and Day, L. H. 1993. Living arrangements and ‘successful’ ageing among ever-married American White women 77–87 years of age. Ageing & Society, 13, 3, 365–87.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frankenberg, E., Chan, A. and Ofstedal, M. B. 2002. Stability and change in living arrangements in Indonesia, Singapore, and Taiwan, 1993–99. Population Studies, 56, 2, 201–13.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Herm, A., Anson, J. and Poulain, M. 2016. Living arrangements and marital status: a register-based study of survival of older adults in Belgium at the beginning of the 21st century. Ageing & Society, 36, 10, 2141–61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hermalin, A. I. 2002. Theoretical perspectives, measurement issues, and related research. In Hermalin, A. I. (ed.), The Well-being of Elderly in Asia: A Four-country Comparative Study. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 101–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hughes, M. E. and Waite, L. J. 2002. Health in household context: living arrangements and health in late middle age. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 43, 1, 1–21.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Knodel, J. and Debavalya, N. 1997. Living arrangements and support among the elderly in South-East Asia: an introduction. Asia-Pacific Population Journal, 12, 4, 5–16.Google Scholar
Korinek, K., Zimmer, Z. and Gu, D. 2011. Transitions in marital status and functional health and patterns of intergenerational coresidence among China's elderly population. Journals of Gerontology: Social Sciences, 66B, 2, 260–70.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Li, L. W., Zhang, J. and Liang, J. 2009. Health among the oldest-old in China: which living arrangements make a difference? Social Science and Medicine, 68, 2, 220–7.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lim, L. L. and Kua, E.-H. 2011. Living alone, loneliness, and psychological well-being of older persons in Singapore. Current Gerontology and Geriatrics Research, 2011, Article ID 673181.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Malhotra, C., Chan, A., Malhotra, R. and Ostbye, T. 2011. Fifteen dimensions of health among community-dwelling older Singaporeans. Current Gerontology and Geriatrics Research, 2011, Article ID 128581.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ng, T. P., Jin, A., Feng, L., Nyunt, M. S. Z., Chow, K. Y., Feng, L. and Fong, N. P. 2015. Mortality of older persons living alone: Singapore Longitudinal Ageing Studies. BMC Geriatrics, 15, 126, 1–9.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Park, H. and Choi, J. 2015. Long-term trends in living alone among Korean adults: age, gender, and educational differences. Demographic Research, 32, 43, 1177–208.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ren, Q. and Treiman, D. J. 2015. Living arrangements of the elderly in China and consequences for their emotional well-being. Chinese Sociological Review, 47, 3, 255–86.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Samanta, T., Chen, F. and Vanneman, R. 2015. Living arrangements and health of older adults in India. Journals of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 70B, 6, 937–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Teerawichitchainan, B., Knodel, J. and Pothisir, W. 2015. What does living alone really mean for older persons? A comparative study of Myanmar, Vietnam, and Thailand. Demographic Research, 32, 48, 1329–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wong, Y.-S. and Verbrugge, L. M. 2009. Living alone: elderly Chinese Singaporeans. Journal of Cross-cultural Gerontology, 24, 3, 209–24.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed