TY - JOUR
T1 - Kinlessness Around the World
AU - Verdery, Ashton M.
AU - Margolis, Rachel
AU - Zhou, Zhangjun
AU - Chai, Xiangnan
AU - Rittirong, Jongjit
AU - Raymo, James
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 The Author(s) 2018. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved.
PY - 2019/10/4
Y1 - 2019/10/4
N2 - The first and second demographic transitions have led to profound changes in family networks. However, the timing and extent of these transitions vary widely across contexts. We examine how common it is for contemporary older adults to lack living kin and whether such individuals are uniformly disadvantaged around the world. Methods: Using surveys from 34 countries that together contain 69.6% of the world's population over age 50 and come from all regions of the world, we describe the prevalence and correlates of lacking immediate kin. We examine macro-level demographic indicators associated with the prevalence of kinlessness as well as micro-level associations between kinlessness and sociodemographic and health indicators. Results: There is great variation in levels of kinlessness, from over 10% with neither a spouse nor a biological child in Canada, Ireland, the Netherlands, and Switzerland to levels below 2% in China and the Republic of Korea. There are strong macro-level relationships between kinlessness and lagged or contemporaneous fertility, mortality, and nuptiality measures and more marginal relationships with other demographic forces. Micro-level associations between kinlessness and respondent attributes are varied. The kinless are more likely to live alone than those with kin in all countries. In most countries, they have equivalent or worse self-rated health and lower education, although there are notable exceptions. There is substantial variation in the gender composition of the kinless population. Discussion: As demographic changes affecting kinlessness continue, we expect the scale of the kinless population to grow around the world.
AB - The first and second demographic transitions have led to profound changes in family networks. However, the timing and extent of these transitions vary widely across contexts. We examine how common it is for contemporary older adults to lack living kin and whether such individuals are uniformly disadvantaged around the world. Methods: Using surveys from 34 countries that together contain 69.6% of the world's population over age 50 and come from all regions of the world, we describe the prevalence and correlates of lacking immediate kin. We examine macro-level demographic indicators associated with the prevalence of kinlessness as well as micro-level associations between kinlessness and sociodemographic and health indicators. Results: There is great variation in levels of kinlessness, from over 10% with neither a spouse nor a biological child in Canada, Ireland, the Netherlands, and Switzerland to levels below 2% in China and the Republic of Korea. There are strong macro-level relationships between kinlessness and lagged or contemporaneous fertility, mortality, and nuptiality measures and more marginal relationships with other demographic forces. Micro-level associations between kinlessness and respondent attributes are varied. The kinless are more likely to live alone than those with kin in all countries. In most countries, they have equivalent or worse self-rated health and lower education, although there are notable exceptions. There is substantial variation in the gender composition of the kinless population. Discussion: As demographic changes affecting kinlessness continue, we expect the scale of the kinless population to grow around the world.
KW - Cross-cultural study
KW - Demography
KW - Family structure
KW - Kinship
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U2 - 10.1093/geronb/gby138
DO - 10.1093/geronb/gby138
M3 - Article
C2 - 30423167
AN - SCOPUS:85072927297
SN - 1079-5014
VL - 74
SP - 1394
EP - 1405
JO - Journals of Gerontology - Series B Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences
JF - Journals of Gerontology - Series B Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences
IS - 8
ER -