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Widowed and Married: Comparative Change in Living Arrangements, 1900 and 1980

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 January 2016

Tim B. Heaton  and
Caroline Hoppe
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Extract

It has become clear that the onset of widowhood, perhaps more than any other event of the aging process, involves a dramatic change in the family status of older persons. Because many elderly are neither emotionally nor economically prepared for widowhood, the death of a spouse often requires a realignment of social and familial relationships, economic conditions, and living arrangements. The ability to cope with hardships associated with loss of spouse certainly may be enhanced or limited by living arrangements. Not only does the type of household indicate the individual’s sociodemographic status, it also gives us insight into the individual’s family life in old age. Widowhood may initiate the final stage of the family cycle when the widowed person, as the only household survivor, must either change residence or live alone. In either case, a reordering of kinship links or provision for formal assistance may be necessary.

Type
Research Article
Information
Social Science History , Volume 11 , Issue 3 , Fall 1987 , pp. 261 - 280
Copyright
copyright © Social Science History Association 1987 

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