Childlessness among the Elderly: Effects of Social Ties

2006 Words5 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Aging in modern society

Introduction

Aging has become a worldwide issue as attentions to health status of older populations increase. As people age, they face different situations that lead them to the current point, satisfaction and health or vise versa. Researchers have conducted and identified various reasons affecting the health of elders. For example, childlessness, marital status, unemployment, and poor social integration are all recognized risk factors that influence the quality of life of older populations. Childlessness has raised a great concern since 1990, as one in every five elders aged over 65 report not having children (Zhang & Hayward, 2001). Another research has also argued, due to the high prevalence of delayed marriage, high divorce rates, and voluntary childlessness nowadays, numbers of childless elders are expected to increase over the next few decades (Zhang & Hayward, 2001). Zhang and Hayward (2001) also state that around 25% of older populations suffering from loneliness due to spouseless and childlessness in the near future is anticipated (Zhang & Hayward, 2001). Family, the basic component of one’s life, has always been considered as the primary source of well-being among older persons as it provides informal cares such as physical, emotional, and financial supports (Zhang & Hayward, 2001). In addition, presence of children or children in-law correlates with a better understanding and experiences of security, immortality, success, companionship, and affection among the elderly parents compared to older persons without children. Childless elders are often found to have limited social networks and passive engagement in social activities (Zhang & Hayward, 2001). However, effects of childlessness among older population are inconsis...

... middle of paper ...

...998). Loneliness and depression in middle and old age: Are the childless more vulnerable? Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences, 53B, S302–S312.

Mair, C. A. (2010). Social Ties and Depression: An Intersectional Examination of Black and White Community-Dwelling Older Adults. Journal of Applied Gerontology, 29(6), 667-696.

Plotnick, R. D. (2009). Childlessness and the Economic Well-being of Older Americans. The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 64B(6), 767-776.

Wenger, G. C., Scott, A. & Patterson N. (2000). How important is parenthood? Childlessness and support in old age in England. Ageing and Society, 20, 161-182.

Zhang, Z., & Hayward, M. D. (2001). Childlessness and the Psychological Well-Being of Older Persons. The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 56(5), S311-S320.

Show More
Related

  • Adam Robinson Acquires Grandparents And A Little Sister Analysis

    1235 Words  | 3 Pages

    Mills, Terry L., Zenta Gomez-Smith and Jessica M. De Leon. "Skipped Generation Families: Sources of Psychological Distress Among Grandmothers of Grandchildren Who Live in Homes Where Neither Parent Is Present." Marriage & Family Review 37.1-2 (2005): 191-212. Web. 18 July 2014.

    Read More

  • Disengagement Theory

    103 Words  | 1 Pages

    Gerontology provides different perspectives of the aging process and the evidence base from which health and social care practice with the older population is founded. Older people are affected differently by the ageing process. The disengagement theory provides a greater insight into why some older people withdraw from the society. According to the disengagement theory perspective, successful ageing is best achieved through abandoning social roles and relationships and by the individual reducing both activities and involvement. Disengaging from social activities and involvement put the older person at risk of being socially excluded. Social exclusion affects older people, although the risk increases with

    Read More

  • Social Welfare: Sucking Off The Tit of America

    1518 Words  | 4 Pages

    Around the 1950’s, the media perpetuated the idea of the picturesque family unit; children made the shift from being a necessary evil to a symbol of status. Children were no longer meant to help sustain the family, so much as meant to be trophies of the parents’ competentness. Children became an outlet for parents to mold and live through vicariously: the more perfect your child was, the better parent you were. The problem is not that people want to have children, but that many cannot afford to take care of their spawn. Whether you are a young mother utilizing the assistance of government programs such as WIC or simply writing off your children on your taxes, you are making use of government incentive to procreate. Reproduction is completely natural; however, once backed by government incentive, the motivations for having children can take an unnatural turn. Children may be a symbol of love and unity, but it has expanded beyond the family unit. Many children have become the responsibility of the Unite...

    Read More

  • Essay On Childlessness

    1091 Words  | 3 Pages

    Many scientist and specifically sociologists are concerned with the population on planet Earth. Many couples today are choosing not to have children. This choice does not just effect the couples personally, however it effects the whole country's demographic. The increase in childlessness among couples generates economic and social problems. Many countries are facing this problem. Hara in a journal article mentions that Japan and Germany are a couple of the countries that are going through childlessness (Hara, 2008).Today, more than 80 countries depend on immigration to prevent the populations from declining, due to the death rate being higher than birth rate. (Becker-Posner, 2013) How will declining birth rates affect demographics in many countries around the world? How will it affect the Global economy? How will it affect societies in different countries; will it raise social and racial tensions? Will it affect relations

    Read More

  • Successful Aging Elderly (SAE)

    2206 Words  | 5 Pages

    Aging and old age for a long time presented as dominated by negative traits and states such as sickness, depression and isolation. The aging process is not simply senescence most people over the age of 65 are not Senile, bedridden, isolated, or suicidal (Aldwin & Levenson, 1994). This change in perspective led the investigation of the other side of the coin. Ageing is seen as health, maturity and personal Royal growth, self-acceptance, happiness, generatively, coping and acceptance of age-related constraints (Birren & Fisher, 1995). Psychological und...

    Read More

  • Applying the Sociological Imagination to Sole-parent Familes

    1346 Words  | 3 Pages

    Families are becoming more diverse and they come in all shapes and sizes. Some people consider families to be strictly biological, while others consider people they love to be their family. Although two-parent families, also known as a nuclear family are the majority, one-parent families are becoming more common in today’s society. A sole-parent is considered to be a parent without a partner or spouse who is the primary care giver of one or more children in a household (Ministry of Social Development, 2010). From the age of 14 onward I was raised by m...

    Read More

  • She's Not There: A Life in Two Genders by Jennifer Finney Boylan

    1748 Words  | 4 Pages

    Pinquart, Martin, and Silvia Sörensen. "Influences Of Socioeconomic Status, Social Network, And Competence On Subjective Well-being In Later Life: A Meta-analysis.." Psychology and Aging 15.2 (2000): 187-224. American Psychological Association. Web. 8 Apr. 2014.

    Read More

  • Loneness in the Older Adult Population

    914 Words  | 2 Pages

    The study population was from the Later Life Study of Social Exchanges which was a five-wave, 2 year longitudinal study being non-institutionalized with English-speaking older adults who resided in the United States. The sampling frame came from the Medicare Beneficiary Eligibility List of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services consisting of information on nearly all older adults in the United States. Interviews began in 2000; wave 1 data collected 916 sample of older adults ranging from 65 to 91 years of age (M=74.13, SD=6.63). Of the total participants, 62 percent represented females; 83 percent were Caucasian; 54 percent were married or in marriage-like relationship, 34 percent were widowed, and the rest were separated or divorced being 8 percent and 4 percent were never married. All study participants closely resembled the older American population bas...

    Read More

  • Marginalisation of the Elderly in America

    3411 Words  | 7 Pages

    Uhlenberg, Peter. 1992. “Population Aging and Social Policy.” Annual Review, Sociology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

    Read More

  • Comparing the Daily Lives of African American Women in the 1940s and Today

    3838 Words  | 8 Pages

    McLoyd, V. C., & Wilson, L. (1992). Telling them like it is: The role of economic and environmental factors in single mothers? discussions with their children. American Journal of Community Psychology, 20, 419-444.

    Read More

  • The Decline of Japan’s Birth Rate

    859 Words  | 2 Pages

    Teitelbaum, Michael S., Jay Winter. “Low Fertility Rates - Just a Phase?” YaleGlobal Online. Yale Global, 9 Jul. 2013. Web. 1 Mar. 2014.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Late Adulthood

    1199 Words  | 3 Pages

    There is a relationship between old age and late life loneliness; whether is perceived or actual is irrelevant, as society views elderly people differently

    Read More

  • Age And The Sociological Age

    2162 Words  | 5 Pages

    There is a growing interest in Ageing for both Sociologists and Social policy researchers, which has been notably stimulated by a new found awareness of the rising age dependency ratio (namely the predicted costs associated with this through pensions and healthcare), changing patterns of consumption and the ‘vertical’ growth of families. Across a large number of societies, there have been many differing responses to the population ageing. These will be discussed later, but it is of note to highlight the importance of these ideas on intergenerational relations being shared across nations.

    Read More

  • Social Alienation And Loneliness

    1541 Words  | 4 Pages

    In the modern society, a large number of people are suffering from the effects of social isolation. Over the past decades, the most affected population has been the senior citizens who are forced to live in isolation due to their old age and a loss of contact with their friends. The results of alienation are loneliness, vulnerability, and depression. However, with the emergence of information technology, both the senior population and the younger generations have been faced with increased exposure to loneliness as people have greater access and use of different media as opposed to the traditional methods of socialization (Solove 17). Loneliness can be defined as a distressful mental

    Read More

  • A Gender Debate

    612 Words  | 2 Pages

    Gillespie R `Childfree And Feminine: Understanding The Gender Identity Of Voluntary Childless Women' Gender And Society 1st February 2003, vol.17 no. 1 pp122-136

    Read More

More about Childlessness among the Elderly: Effects of Social Ties

Open Document