Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gxg78 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T05:38:04.836Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Marital Status, Childlessness, and Social Support among Older Canadians*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 November 2014

Margaret J. Penning  and
Zheng Wu
Margaret J. Penning*
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology, University of Victoria
Zheng Wu
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology, University of Victoria
*
†Correspondence and requests for reprints should be sent to / La correspondance et les demandes de tirés-à-part doivent être adressées à: Margaret Penning, Ph.D. Department of Sociology University of Victoria PO Box 1700 STN CSC Victoria, BC V8W 3P5 (mpenning@uvic.ca)
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Despite evidence of increasing diversification of family structures, little is known regarding implications of marital and parental status for access to social support in later life. Using data from Statistics Canada’s 2007 General Social Survey, this study assessed the impact of marital and parental status intersections on social support among adults aged 60 and older (n = 11,503). Two-stage probit regression models indicated that among those who were currently married or separated/divorced, childless individuals were more likely to report instrumental (domestic, transportation) and emotional support from people outside the household. Conversely, among never-married or widowed older adults, being childless was associated with reduced domestic support but without differences in other support domains. Findings suggest that marital and parental status intersections are not uniformly positive, neutral, or negative regarding implications for extra-household social support. Future work should address complexities of these relationships in order to better understand rapidly changing family structures.

Résumé

Malgré les preuves de la diversification croissante des structures familiales, on connaît peu de conséquences de l'état matrimonial et parental pour l'accès à l'aide sociale dans la vie plus tard. En utilisant les données de l'Enquête sociale générale de 2007 de Statistique Canada, cette étude a évalué l'impact des intersections de l'état matrimonial et parental sur le soutien social chez les adultes âgés de 60 ans et plus (n = 11 503). Modèles probit de regréssion en deux étapes ont indiqué que, parmi ceux qui sont actuellement mariés ou séparés/divorcés, les personnes sans enfants étaient plus susceptibles de déclarer un soutien instrumental (domestique, transport) et émotionnel des personnes hors du ménage. A l'inverse, chez les personnes âgées célibataires ou veuves, être sans enfant a été associée à du soutien interne réduit, mais sans différences dans un autre support. Les résultats suggèrent que les intersections de l'état matrimonial et parental ne sont pas uniformément positive, neutre ou négative à l'égard des implications pour le soutien social extra-ménage. Les travaux futures devraient répondre à la complexité de ces relations afin de mieux comprendre les structures familiales qui évoluent rapidement.

Keywords

agingCanadachildlessmarital statussocial supportvieillissmentCanadasans enfantl'état matrimonialle soutien social
Type
Articles
Information
Canadian Journal on Aging / La Revue canadienne du vieillissement , Volume 33 , Issue 4: Special Issue on Aging Families , December 2014 , pp. 426 - 447
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Association on Gerontology 2014 

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.)

Footnotes

*

This article is based on a paper presented at the International Symposium on Aging Families, sponsored by the SSHRC-funded Population Change and Life Course Strategic Knowledge Cluster, Victoria, BC, 3–4 June 2013. We thank the participants, editors, and anonymous reviewers for their feedback.

References

Albertini, M., & Mencarini, L. (2014). Childlessness and support networks in later life: New pressures on familistic welfare states?. Journal of Family Issues, 35(3), 331–357.Google Scholar
Amemiya, T. (1985). Advanced econometrics. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Antonucci, T. C. (1985). Personal characteristics, social networks and social behavior. In Binstock, R. H. and Shanas, E. (Eds.), Handbook of aging and the social sciences (pp. 94–128). New York, NY: Van Nostrand Reinhold.Google Scholar
Antonucci, T. C. (1986). Social support networks: Hierarchical mapping technique. Generations, X, 4, 10–12.Google Scholar
Antonucci, T. C. (1990). Social supports and social relationships. In Binstock, R. H. and George, L. K. (Eds.), Handbook of aging and the social sciences, 3rd ed. (pp. 205–226). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Antonucci, T. C., & Akiyama, H. (1987). Social networks in adult life and a preliminary examination of the convoy model. Journal of Gerontology, 42, 519–527.Google Scholar
Barrett, A. E., & Lynch, S. M. (1999). Caregiving networks of elderly persons: Variation by marital status. The Gerontologist, 39, 695–704.Google Scholar
Basten, S. (2009). Voluntary childlessness and being childfree. The Future of Human Reproduction: Working Paper #5. Oxford & Vienna Institute of Demography, Oxford University.Google Scholar
Blumberg, S. J., & Luke, J. V. (2007). Coverage bias in traditional telephone surveys of low-income and young adults. Public Opinion Quarterly, 71, 734–749.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blumberg, S. J., & Luke, J. V. (2008). Wireless substitution: Early release of estimates based on data from the National Health Interview Survey, July – December 2007. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics.Google Scholar
Broese van Groenou, M., & van Tilburg, T. (1997). Changes in the support networks of older adults in the Netherlands. Journal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology, 12, 23–44.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Campbell, L. D., Connidis, I. A., & Davies, L. (1999). Sibling ties in later life: A social network analysis. Journal of Family Issues, 20, 114–148.Google Scholar
Cantor, M. H. (1975). Life space and the social support system of the inner-city elderly of New York. The Gerontologist, 15, 23–27.Google Scholar
Cantor, M. H. (1979). Neighbours and friends: An overlooked resource in the informal support system. Research on Aging, 1, 434–463.Google Scholar
Cantor, M. H. (1991). Family and community: Changing roles in an aging society. The Gerontologist, 31(3), 337–346.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cantor, M. H., & Little, V. (1985). Aging and social care. pp. 745–781 in Binstock, R. H. & Shanas, E. (Eds.), Handbook of aging and the social sciences, 2nd ed. New York, NY: Van Nostrand Reinhold.Google Scholar
Carrière, Y., Keefe, J., Légaré, J., Lin, X., Rowe, G., Martel, L., & Rajbhandary, S. (2008). Projecting the future availability of the informal support network of the elderly population and assessing its impact on home care services. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 91F0015M- No. 009. Ottawa, ON: Minister of Industry.Google Scholar
Chappell, N. L., & Funk, L. M. (2011). Social support, caregiving, and aging. Canadian Journal on Aging, 30, 355–370.Google Scholar
Chappell, N. L., McDonald, L., & Stones, M. (2010). Aging in contemporary Canada (2nd ed.). Toronto, ON: Pearson Canada.Google Scholar
Choi, N. G. (1994). Patterns and determinants of social service utilization: Comparison of the childless elderly and elderly parents living with or apart from their children. The Gerontologist, 34, 353–362.Google Scholar
Cohen, S., Gottlieb, B., & Underwood, L. (2000). Social relationships and health. In Cohen, S., Underwood, L., & Gottlieb, B. (Eds.), Social support measurement and intervention (pp. 3–28). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Connidis, I. A. (2010). Family ties and aging (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Connidis, I. A., & Davies, L. (1990). Confidants and companions in later life: The place of family and friends. Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences, 45: S141–S149.Google Scholar
Connidis, I. A., & McMullin, J. A. (1992). Getting out of the house: The effect of childlessness on social participation and companionship in later life. Canadian Journal on Aging, 11, 370–386.Google Scholar
Connidis, I. A., & McMullin, J. A. (1994). Social support in older age: Assessing the impact of marital and parent status. Canadian Journal on Aging, 13(4), 510–527.Google Scholar
Cornwell, B., Laumann, E. O., & Schumm, L. P. (2008). The social connectedness of older adults:A national profile. American Sociological Review, 73, 185–203.Google Scholar
Cotterill, P. (1994). Friendly relations? Mothers and their daughters-in-law. London, UK: Taylor and Francis.Google Scholar
Curran, S. R., McLanahan, S., & Knab, J. (2003). Does marriage expand perceptions of kinship among the elderly? Social Science Research, 32, 171–190.Google Scholar
Cwikel, J., Gramotnev, H., & Lee, C. (2006). Never-married childless women in Australia: Health and social circumstances in older age. Social Science and Medicine, 62, 1991–2001.Google Scholar
DeOllos, I. Y., & Kapinus, C. A. (2002). Aging childless individuals and couples: Suggestions for new directions in research. Sociological Inquiry,72(1), 72–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dykstra, P. A. (2006). Off the beaten track: Childlessness and social integration in late life. Research on Aging, 28(6), 749–767.Google Scholar
Dykstra, P. A. (2009). Childless old age. In Uhlenberg, P. (Ed.), International Handbook of Population Aging, (pp. 671–690). Heidelberg, Germany: Springer-Verlag.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dykstra, P. A. & Hagestad, G. O. (2007a). Roads less taken: Developing a nuanced view of older adults without children. Journal of Family Issues, 28(10), 1275–1310.Google Scholar
Dykstra, P. A. & Hagestad, G. O. (2007b). Childlessness and parenthood in two centuries: Different roads– different maps?. Journal of Family Issues, 28(11), 1518–1532.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dykstra, P. A., van Tilburg, T., & de Jong Gierveld, J. (2005). Changes in older adult loneliness: Results from a seven-year longitudinal study. Research on Aging, 27, 725–747.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dykstra, P. A., & Wagner, M. (2007). Pathways to childlessness and late-life outcomes. Journal of Family Issues, 28(10), 1487–1517.Google Scholar
Feld, S., Dunkle, R. E., Schroepfer, T., & Shen, H. (2006). Expansion of elderly couples’ IADL caregiver networks beyond the marital dyad. International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 63, 95–113.Google Scholar
Glaser, K., Stuchbury, R., Tomassini, C., & Askham, J. (2008). The long-term consequences of partnership dissolution for support in later life in the United Kingdom. Ageing and Society, 28(3), 329–351.Google Scholar
Goldscheider, F. K., & Waite, L. (1986). Sex differences in the entry into marriage. American Journal of Sociology, 92, 91–109.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gottlieb, B. H., & Bergen, A. E. (2010). Social support concepts and measures. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 69, 511–520.Google Scholar
Greene, W. H. (2012). Econometric analysis (7th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.Google Scholar
Grundy, E., & Read, S. (2012). Social contacts and receipt of help among older people in England: Are there benefits of having more children?. Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 67(6), 742–754.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gurung, R. A. R., Taylor, S. E., & Seeman, T. E. (2003). Accounting for changes in social support among married older adults: Insights from the MacArthur Studies of Successful Aging. Psychology and Aging, 18(3), 487–496.Google Scholar
Ha, J. H., Carr, D., Utz, R. L., & Nesse, R. (2006). Older adultsdultslder adu of intergenerational support after widowhood: How do men and women differ? Journal of Family Issues, 27, 3rnalGoogle Scholar
Haber, M. G., Cohen, J. L., Lucas, T., & Baltes, B. B. (2007). The relationship between self-reported received and perceived social support: A meta analytic review. American Journal of Community Psychology, 39, 133–144.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Idler, E. L., & Benyamini, Y. (1997). Self-rated health and mortality: A review of twenty-seven community studies. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 38, 21–37.Google Scholar
Johnson, C. L., & Catalano, D. J. (1981). Childless elderly and their family supports. The Gerontologist, 21(6), 610–617.Google Scholar
Kahn, R. L., & Antonucci, T. C. (1980). Convoys over the life course: Attachment, roles and social support. In Baltes, P. B. and Brim, O. (Eds.), Life-Span Development and Behavior (pp. 253–86). New York, NY: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Keating, N., Otfinowski, P., Wenger, C., Fast, J., & Derksen, L. (2003). Understanding the caring capacity of informal networks of frail seniors: A case for care networks. Ageing and Society, 23, 115–127.Google Scholar
Keith, P. (2003). Resources, family ties, and well-being of never-married men and women. Journal of Gerontological Social Work, 42(2), 51–75.Google Scholar
Keith, P. M., Kim, S., & Schafer, R. B. (2000). Informal ties of the unmarried in middle and later life: Who has them and who does not? Sociological Spectrum, 20, 221–238.Google Scholar
Kennedy, S., & Bumpass, L. L. (2008). Cohabitation and children’s living arrangements: New estimates from the United States. Demographic Research, 19, 1663–1692. doi:10.4054/DemRes.2008.19.46.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kerr, D., Moyser, M., & Beaujot, R. (2006). Marriage and cohabitation: Demographic and socioeconomic differences in Quebec and Canada. Canadian Studies in Population, 33, 83–117.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Koropeckyj-Cox, T. (1998). Loneliness and depression in middle and old age: Are the childless more vulnerable?. Journals of Gerontology: Social Sciences, 53B, S303–S312.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Larsson, K. & Silverstein, M. (2004). The effects of marital and parental status on informal support and service utilization: A study of older Swedes living alone. Journal of Aging Studies, 18, 231–244.Google Scholar
Levitt, M. J. (2005). Social relations in childhood and adolescence: The convoy model. Human Development, 48, 28–47.Google Scholar
Lima, J. C., Allen, S., Goldscheider, F., & Intrator, O. (2008). Spousal caregiving in later midlife versus older ages: Implications of work and family obligations. Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences, 63B, S229–S238.Google Scholar
Lin, I-F., & Brown, S. L. (2012). Unmarried boomers confront old age: A national portrait. The Gerontologist, 52(2), 153–165.Google Scholar
Maddala, G. S. (1983). Limited-dependent and qualitative variables in economics. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
McMullin, J. A., & Marshall, V. W. (1996). Family, friends, stress and well-being: Does childlessness make a difference? Canadian Journal on Aging, 15, 355–373.Google Scholar
Milan, A., Vezina, M. & Wells, C. (2007). Family portrait: Continuity and change in Canadian families and households in 2006. Statistics Canada catalogue no. 97-55-XIE. Ottawa, ON: Minister of Industry.Google Scholar
Penning, M. J., & Wu, Z. (2013). Intermarriage and social support in middle and later life. Journal of Marriage and Family, 75, 1044–1064.Google Scholar
Pezzin, L. E., & Schone, B. S. (1999). Parental marital disruption and intergenerational transfers: An analysis of lone elderly parents and their children. Demography, 36, 287–297.Google Scholar
Pollard, M. S., & Wu, Z. (1998). Divergence of marriage patterns in Quebec and elsewhere in Canada. Population and Development Review, 24, 329–356.Google Scholar
Ravanera, Z. R., & Beaujot, R. (2014). Childlessness of men in Canada: Result of a waiting game in a changing family context. Canadian Studies in Population, 41(1–2), 38–60.Google Scholar
Rook, K. S. (2009). Gaps in social support resources in later life: An adaptational challenge in need of further research. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 26(1), 103–112.Google Scholar
Rowland, D. T. (2007). Historical trends in childlessness. Journal of Family Issues, 28, 1311–1337.Google Scholar
Rubinstein, R. L., Alexander, B. B., Goodman, M., & Luborsky, M. (1991). Key relationships of never married, childless older women: A cultural analysis. Journal of Gerontology, 46(5), S270–S277.Google Scholar
Schimmele, C. M., & Wu, Z. (2011). Cohabitation and social engagement. Canadian Studies in Population, 38(3–4), 23–36.Google Scholar
Silverstein, M., & Giarrusso, R. (2010). Aging and family life: A decade review. Journal of Marriage and Family, 72, 1039–1058.Google Scholar
Simons, R. L. (1983–84). Specificity and substitution in the social networks of the elderly. International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 18, 121–139.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Statistics Canada. (2009). General Social Survey Cycle 21: Family, social support and retirement public use microdata file documentation and user’s guide (Catalogue No. 12M0021G). Retrieved fromhttp://www5.statcan.gc.ca/bsolc/olc-cel/olc-cel?lang=eng&catno=12M0021X.Google Scholar
Statistics Canada (2013). Table 051-0042 – Estimates of population, by marital status or legal marital status, age and sex for July 1, Canada, provinces and territories. Retrieved 8 April 2014 fromhttp://www5.statcan.gc.ca/cansim/pick-choisir?lang=eng&p2=33&id=0510042.Google Scholar
Thornton, A., Axinn, W. G., & Xie, Y. (2007). Marriage and cohabitation. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Thornton, A., & Young-DeMarco, L. (2001). Four decades of trends in attitudes toward family issues in the United States: The 1960s through the 1990s. Journal of Marriage and Family, 63, 1009–1037.Google Scholar
Umberson, D., Pudrovska, T., & Reczek, C. (2010). Parenthood, childlessness, and well-being: A life course perspective. Journal of Marriage and Family, 72, 612–629.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Veevers, J. E. (1980). Childless by choice. Toronto, ON: Butterworths.Google Scholar
Victor, C., Scambler, S. J., Bowling, A., & Bond, J. (2005). The prevalence and risk factors for loneliness in later life: a survey of older people in Great Britain. Ageing and Society, 25(3), 357–375.Google Scholar
Walker, R. B., & Luszcz, M. A. (2009). The health and relationship dynamics of late-life couples: A systematic review of the literature. Ageing and Society, 29, 455–480.Google Scholar
Wenger, C. G. (1984). The support network: Coping with old age. London, UK: Allen and Unwin.Google Scholar
Wenger, C. G. (2009). Childlessness at the end of life: evidence from rural Wales. Ageing & Society, 29, 1243–1259.Google Scholar
Wenger, C. G., Dykstra, P. A., Melkas, T., & Knipscheer, K. C. P. M. (2007). Social embeddedness and late life parenthood: Community activity, close ties, and support networks. Journal of Family Issues, 28, 1419–1456.Google Scholar
Wenger, C. G., Scott, A., & Patterson, N. (2000). How important is parenthood? Childlessness and support in old age in England. Ageing and Society, 20(2), 161–182.Google Scholar
Wu, Z., & Hart, R. (2002). Social and health factors associated with support among elderly immigrants in Canada. Research on Aging, 24(4), 391–412.Google Scholar
Wu, Z., & Pollard, M. S. (1998). Social support among unmarried childless elderly persons. Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences, 53B(6), S324–S335.Google Scholar
Zhang, Z., & Hayward, M. D. (2001). Childlessness and the psychological well-being of older persons. The Journals of Gerontology: Series B. Social Sciences, 56B(5), S311–S320.Google Scholar