Living arrangements of the aged in seven developing countries: A preliminary analysis

Survey data obtained from seven developing countries in the UNU study shows that the elderly maintain coresidence with children despite changing socioeconomic and demographic conditions. Further analysis, however, shows divergence in types of coresidence chosen, out of a variety of circumstances. Coresidence with married children was highest in the India, Singapore, Thailand, and South Korea samples. Such condition was less common, relatively, in the Egypt and Brazil samples. The skip generation household where the elderly lived with grandchildren only was also found to be important in rural samples in Zimbabwe and Thailand. Preliminary findings suggest that socio-economic and individual characteristics affect living arrangements of the elderly more significantly in some samples and less in others.