Living arrangements of older women and men in Kuwait

The main objectives of this article are to analyze the correlates of living arrangements of persons aged 60 or above in the oil-rich, Muslim country of Kuwait and to examine whether or not patterns of co-residence differ by gender. Data were obtained from a nationally representative survey of households of Kuwaiti nationals, and this paper is based on the 687 older Kuwaiti residents of these households. Living arrangements were generally similar for women and men. Eighty nine percent of women and 94 percent of men co-reside in households with at least one son or daughter. Only 0.3 percent of men and 1.9 percent of women live alone. Socio-demographic characteristics of women and men differed significantly; 58 percent of women were widowed compared with 5 percent of men. Logistic regression analysis showed that women had two times higher odds than men of living without their children. The odds of residing without children also increased with the respondent's age and education but decreased with increasing wealth. Continued rapid demographic, socioeconomic, and cultural change in Kuwait foretells continued decline in co-residence with children, and the implications of such change in a small city-state merits further research.