New partnerships in widowhood in Spain: Realities and desires

ABSTRACT

Widowhood has traditionally been associated with the end of the family cycle; however, social and generational transformations in Spain are providing a new context for the development of new partnerships in widowhood. This study analyzes widowed persons who have found new partners and those who would be willing to do so, focusing on their characteristics and motives and related sociodemographic factors. Research is based on a sample of 306 widows and widowers in Spain taken from the survey Social Networks and Well-Being. The results reveal the importance of sociodemographic factors for both those who wish to have a partner as well as for those who have one. For the former, elements associated with quality of life are very important, while among those with a new partner, the key is not having an extensive family support network. The principal motives for looking for a new relationship are related to enjoying life more and not feeling alone; while those who reject a new relationship do so because of the belief that their lost partner is irreplaceable.     

“You Can't Spend Years with Someone and Just Cast Them Aside”: Augmented Identity in Older British Widows

Widowhood forces women to reconstruct their identities. This article discusses how this reconstruction occurs. Interviews were conducted with 65 older widows exploring their experiences: Of those, 81% spoke about identity. This reconstruction can be understood in terms of continuing bonds with the deceased, loosening bonds, and personal growth. Women discussed these transitions in four ways: personal struggle, resistance to social expectations, empowerment, and using rhetoric. The reconstructed identity is not that of wife but rather that of an augmented identity of wife/widow. The tensions between how the widows see themselves, and how society sees them are explored.     

Living Arrangements and Quality of Life Among Chinese Canadian Elders

This paper examines the role of living arrangements in thequality of life of community-dwelling Chinese elders (aged 65 andover) currently residing in Vancouver and Victoria, BritishColumbia. Data are based on a random sample of 830 persons[response rate = 71.5%], who were interviewed in their homes inthe language of their choice in 1995–96. Three dimensions ofquality of life – satisfaction, well-being and social support –are examined for married men and women [living with spouse alonevs. living intergenerationally] and widowed women [living alonevs. living intergenerationally]. Few differences are found formarried persons, especially women; for widows, living alonesignificantly reduces quality of life in a number of areas.Regression analyses indicate that living arrangements are not asignificant predictor of life satisfaction or well-being formarried men and women. For widows, living arrangements determinewell-being but not life satisfaction.Overall, age, health status, and social support (havingfriends/confidante) are better predictors of quality of life forelderly Chinese Canadians than are living arrangements. Findingshighlight the importance of: empirically distinguishing maritalstatus and living arrangements in studying the quality of life ofelders; not homogenizing Chinese Canadian seniors with regard toliving arrangements; and focussing on Chinese elderly widows wholive alone as a group at risk of low well-being.     

The elderly who live alone in the united states: Historical perspectives on household change

One of the most dramatic changes in the life of the elderly in the United States in the twentieth century is the rise in the proportion of elderly widows living alone. This paper examines this transformation by comparing the determinants of elderly widows’ living alone at four points in time, in 1910, 1940, 1960, and 1990. Logistic regression models of the probability of living alone are estimated. The results of these models are used to calculate the expected proportion of elderly widows living alone in various hypothetical scenarios of social change. This analysis suggests that no single factor is responsible for the rise in living alone among the elderly. Value changes, as represented by a variable for time, are shown to have strong and direct effects on the increased probability of living alone in old age in the late twentieth century, independent of the effect of rising income levels. These results are discussed in light of previous research on living arrangements of the elderly, which articulates demographic, economic, and cultural explanations for change.     

Widow remarriages in some rural areas of Northern India

It is commonly believed thai widows belonging to high-caste Hindus in India do not remarry because of various social restrictions imposed on their remarriage. Though some information on widowhood and widow remarriages is available, there is need for more detailed information. A study, carried out by the author, of 1 percent of the rural households in Mathura and Saharanpur districts in Uttar Pradesh and in Rohtak district in Panjab has brought out that nearly SO percent of the ever-widowed are remarried. The survey covered 6,211 households, of which 887 were Muslim and the remaining were Hindu.Of the ever-widowed females, 84 percent in Saharanpur, 25 percent in Rohtak, and 19 percent in Mathura were found to have remarried. With a view to finding out whether differences in widow remarriage percentages by districts were real or were due to variations in the distribution of the ever-widowed females by age, occupation, caste, and the number of living children, the standardized widow remarriage rates were obtained. The population of Saharanpur district was taken to be the standard population. As a result of standardization for age, number of living children, and caste, the difference narrowed down considerably; and, while the widow remarriage percentage was 34.2 in Saharanpur. it was found to be 334 in Rohtak and 31.1 in Mathura. A 3 percent lower figure for Mathura district could be a result of the Brahminic influence.Widow remarriages were found to be very common among younger widows, since nearly 90 percent of those below age 16 and 80 percent of those in the age group 15-19 were remarried. Also, roughly 80 percent of those who did not have a child at the time of their widowhood were remarried. But the per-centage of remarried widows declined with an increase in age and in the number of living children. The percentage of widow remarriages was highest among the Muslims-between 35 and 37-because they put no restrictions on such remarriages. Among the Hindus, the lower castes, such as Chamars, Bhangis, and artisan castes, had the highest percentage of widow remarriages-around 30-because of the absence of social restrictions on such remarriages. Among the high-caste Hindus, the Jats (one of the warrior castes) had the highest percentage of remarried widows. The reason for this is that they have socially permitted such remarriages. Widow remarriages, though on a smaller scale, were also found prevailing among other warrior castes, such as Gujjars, Ahirs, and Rajputs. Among other high-caste Hindus, such as Brahmins, Banias, Khatris, and Aroras, cases of widow remarriages were very few-only around 7 percent. This is the result of a long standing religious sanction against such remarriages.On the basis of our data, we are inclined to say that in the rural areas of northern India no marked change in the social position regarding widow remarriages is noticeable.     

Economic Stress, Quality of Life, and Mortality for the Oldest-Old in China

China??s oldest old population is estimated to quadruple by 2050. Yet, poverty rate for the oldest old has been the highest among all age groups in China. This paper investigates the relationship between economic stress, quality of life, and mortality among the oldest-old in China. Both objective economic hardships and perceived economic strain are examined. We base our investigation on data drawn from the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey conducted between 2000 and 2005. Our sample includes 10,972 men and women between the ages of 80 and 105 in 2000. The data show that about 16% of these oldest-old lived under economic stress in 2000. The risk factors that make one vulnerable to economic stress include age, being male, being widowed or never married, being a minority member, having no education, having no living children, and not having children as main source of income, and having no pension. Economic stress is negatively associated with indicators of quality of life, such as the quality of medical care and mental well-being. The poor quality of life contributes to the higher mortality rate for the oldest old who are under economic stress. Results also show that perceived economic strain increases the risk of mortality by 42% in rural areas, even after controlling for basic demographic characteristics, life style factors, and major health events.?For the rural oldest-old, having children as a main source of income and having access to pension alleviates the negative impact of economic hardship on mortality hazard by 23 and 66% respectively. However, in urban areas, economic stress has no direct impact on the hazard of mortality.     

The Perceived Role of ICTs in Quality of Life in Three Chinese Cities

This study assesses the perceived role of information and communication technologies (ICTs) including the Internet, mobile telephone, CD/MD/MP3, television and VCR/VCD/DVD in raising quality of life (QoL). A comparison is made between three Chinese cities, namely, Beijing, Taipei and Hong Kong, to see if differences exist in the perceived value of various forms of ICTs in the three cities, which share Chinese culture but different levels of development. Household interviews with probability samples were conducted in the three cities in 2002–2003. The findings show that the Internet and mobile phone are considered as the most and second most important medium respectively in raising quality of life in all three cities, while television ranks third and other ICTs trail behind. Based on the findings, the authors advance four propositions for the perceived role of ICTs in QoL. First, there are four basic needs related to ICT’s role in QoL. These “ICT-QoL” needs are the need for interaction, need for being in touch, need for instantaneous communication, and need for entertainment. Second, people’s assessment of an ICT’s value in raising their QoL varies with the penetration rate of that ICT—the higher the penetration, the more positive is the assessment of that ICT’s role in QoL. Third, the perceived value of an ICT in QoL declines with time—the longer the ICT has been around after reaching full penetration rate, the lower the value is attached to its contribution to QoL. Finally, education has strong influences on the assessment of the Internet’s role in QoL. Highly educated people tend to value the Internet most as a QoL raiser irrespective of the city they reside in. As a QoL raiser, the Internet is favored more by highly educated while mobile and fixed phone are favored more by lowly educated people.     

Examining the Effects of Perceptions of Community and Recreation Participation on Quality of Life

The study of quality of life remains a key area of interest for not only researchers but to society. Through research being completed in multiple disclines and from a multitude of perspectives, the need to understand the full breadth of quality of life is required in order for the further development of this research area. Through building on previous research completed on quality of life from multiple disclines, this study utilizes numerous objective and subjective indicators to model quality of life in a community in the southwest United States. Through the analysis of 352 completed surveys, it was found that the two strongest predictors of quality of life were community pride and community elements. Of interest is that a number of other indicators including recreation participation and length of residency in a community were found to have a negative relationship with quality of life.     

Gender,Widowhood, and Long-Term Care in the Older Mexican American Population

SUMMARY

The objective of this study is to examine the influences of gender on long-term care service use among older Mexican American widows and widowers. Our analysis is based on a sample of 773 widows and 183 widowers from the Longitudinal Study of Elderly Mexican American Health (H-EPESE). In this sample widows resemble widowers in terms of demographic and health characteristics. However, widows report more financial strain than widowers and a greater welfare dependency (SSI) and Medicaid use. Among those who suffered diminished health, widows were more likely than widowers to use community-based long-term care services whereas widowers were more likely to enter a nursing home. Widows also had more instrumental and socioemotional support than widowers. Serious cognitive and functional impairment, though, places widows and widowers at the same risk of institutionalization. We end with a discussion of the policy implications of these findings.     

Echoes of the baby boom and bust: Recent and prospective changes in living alone among elderly widows in the united states

Today the great majority of noninstitutionalized elderly widows live alone, a striking increase from a quarter-century ago. A noticeable difference has occurred, however, in trends by age; the proportion of the young-old widows living alone is starting to decline. while that of the old-old continues to increase. We use a model suggested by earlier studies to explain the emergence of this difference, and assess the prospects of its continuing over the next three decades. We find that the recent differential change in the proportions of younger and older widows living alone is due primarily to a differential change in kin availability that has emerged as the baby boomers’ parents have begun to reach retirement age. Over the next decade, the same type of differential change by age in kin availability will continue; living alone is likely to become less common among young-old than among old-old widows, in a reversal of the pattern of the last quarter-century. In the first two decades of the next century, as the baby boom affects kin availability among the old-old, and as the subsequent baby bust affects that among the young-old, the age pattern of living arrangements among elderly widows will reverse once again.     

Time Use and Well-Being in Older Widows: Adaptation and Resilience

Research on widowhood mostly emphasizes negative outcomes, but some studies suggest widows are resilient. This study evaluated the in-depth daily experiences of older widows compared to married women. Participants included 75 widows and 125 married women from the National Study of Daily Experiences II, who completed daily diaries over 8 days. For long-term widows, there were no differences compared to married women in daily and general well-being, and a few differences in time use. Results add to the literature by using daily diary data to illustrate the general resilience of older women many years after the death of a spouse.     

Time use and well-being in older widows: adaptation and resilience

Research on widowhood mostly emphasizes negative outcomes, but some studies suggest widows are resilient. This study evaluated the in-depth daily experiences of older widows compared to married women. Participants included 75 widows and 125 married women from the National Study of Daily Experiences II, who completed daily diaries over 8 days. For long-term widows, there were no differences compared to married women in daily and general well-being, and a few differences in time use. Results add to the literature by using daily diary data to illustrate the general resilience of older women many years after the death of a spouse.     

Comparative Examination of Self-Perceived Health and Other Measures of the Quality of Life Across the EU-27

In various fields of research self-perceived health has been defined and analysed as a significant measure of the health-related quality of life, and also as a predictor of health status. This paper examines the determinants of self-perceived health in the EU-27 area in order to find whether a common set of governmental policies could improve the self-perceived health and whether this positive effect would remain positive and significant on other measures of the quality of life as well as across the quintiles of income distribution. A number of panel regression models using the first-difference GMM estimator are applied to comparatively examine self-perceived health together with other measures of health status and quality of life, based on Eurostat data from 2003 to 2012. The empirical results of the paper could provide useful insights for the European health policy and other common actions and policies in the field of the quality of life.     

A Meta-Analysis of the Relationship Between Spirituality and Quality of Life

The relationship between spirituality and various dimensions of health and quality of life has been extensively examined during the past decade. Though several literature reviews have been conducted in an attempt to synthesize research findings pertaining to the relationship between spirituality and health, a meta-analysis of studies examining spirituality in relation to quality of life has not been identified. The present study was designed to: (a) determine whether there is empirical support for a relationship between spirituality and quality of life, (b) provide an estimate of the strength of this relationship, and (c) examine potential moderating variables affecting this relationship. The research design followed accepted methods for quantitative meta-synthesis. Potential moderating effects of several methodological differences and sample characteristics were examined using meta-analytic approaches with multivariate linear regression and analysis of variance. An extensive multidisciplinary literature search resulted in 3,040 published reports that were manually screened according to pre-established selection criteria. Subsequent to the selection process, 62 primary effect sizes from 51 studies were included in the final analysis. A random effects model of the bivariate correlation between spirituality and quality of life resulted in a moderate effect size (r = 0.34, 95% CI: 0.28–0.40), thereby providing support for the theoretical framework underlying the study wherein spirituality was depicted as a unique concept that stands in relationship to quality of life. Subsequent regression analyses indicated that differences among operational definitions of spirituality and quality of life were associated with the variability in estimates of the magnitude of the relationship (R² = 0.27). Other potential moderators, such as age, gender, ethnicity, religious affiliation and sampling method were examined but the findings pertaining to these variables were inconclusive because of limitations associated with the sample of primary studies. The implications of this study are mostly theoretical in nature and raise questions about the commonly assumed multidimensional conceptualization of quality of life.     

African-American marriage in 1910: Beneath the surface of census data

This paper examines the quality of information about marital status, marital duration, and marriage order among African-American women in the U.S. Census of 1910. It compares the reported prevalence of widowhood to estimates of widowhood based on the mortality of black men and on the ages of women at first marriage. It also compares the reported distributions of duration of first marriage to estimates based on mortality and on age at first marriage. It concludes that census reports are subject to serious error. Widowhood is overreported, and marital turnover appears to have been faster than implied by census reports. The prevalance of "own children" is used to confirm these conclusions and to suggest motivations for misreporting.     

Level and correlates of perceived quality of life for Lao Hmong refugees in Nebraska

The purpose of this study was to determine the perceived global quality of life and the sense of well-being for thirteen specific domains of life experience for 145 Lao Hmong refugees in Nebraska. In addition, the study examined the relationship between the thirteen domains of life experience, four demographic variables, and perceived global quality of life. Because the refugee population studied was largely illiterate in English as well as their native language, a special questionnaire format was developed to allow them confidentiality in responding. An analysis of the data indicated that the Lao Hmong living in Nebraska were generally satisfied with their global life quality and its various domains. The statistical tests used showed the importance of one's view of Self in determining life quality. The study provided data on a unique minority group that has not previously been studied in terms of perceived quality of life.     

Thinking About Women: Sociological Perspectives on Sex and Gender, 8th edition edited by Margaret L. Andersen and Dana Hysock

This qualitative study analyzed the conjugal grief experience of veterans' widows. The narratives yielded several themes, including the decreased self-reported symptoms of distress when widows reported having positive social support without negative social support, the development of an ongoing relationship with their deceased spouses with a mechanism for creating meaning from their loss, and the assumption of a new identity and new roles and responsibilities. Widows who ascribed a belief that external forces control their life events and those who have children with psychosocial issues reported increased symptoms of distress related to their spouses' death.     

Gender, widowhood, and long-term care in the older Mexican American population

The objective of this study is to examine the influences of gender on long-term care service use among older Mexican American widows and widowers. Our analysis is based on a sample of 773 widows and 183 widowers from the Longitudinal Study of Elderly Mexican American Health (H-EPESE). In this sample widows resemble widowers in terms of demographic and health characteristics. However, widows report more financial strain than widowers and a greater welfare dependency (SSI) and Medicaid use. Among those who suffered diminished health, widows were more likely than widowers to use community-based long-term care services whereas widowers were more likely to enter a nursing home. Widows also had more instrumental and socioemotional support than widowers. Serious cognitive and functional impairment, though, places widows and widowers at the same risk of institutionalization. We end with a discussion of the policy implications of these findings.     

An Integrational Model of Quality of Life in Older Age. Results from the ESRC/MRC HSRC Quality of Life Survey in Britain

This paper is based on the results of anational survey of the quality of life of 999randomly sampled people aged 65 and over,living at home in Britain. The survey wassemi-structured, and a sample of surveyrespondents was followed up and interviewedin-depth in order to explore their perceptionsof quality of life in full. Comparisons aremade here between the results of (i) ahierarchical multiple regression model basedon theoretically derived indicators of survey respondents' ratings of their overall quality of life, with (ii) the samerespondents' own definitions of quality oflife, categorised from their responses toopen ended survey questions, and (iii) theviews of a sub-sample of these survey respondents who were subsequently interviewed in greater depth. Respondents were asked theopen ended questions on quality of life at theoutset of the survey interview in order toprevent any respondent bias from thestructured measures used.The core components, and the central planks,of quality of life, which were consistentlyemphasised by the three approaches, were psychological characteristics and outlook,health and functional status, personal andneighbourhood social capital. The lay modelsalso emphasised the importance of financialcircumstances and independence, which need tobe incorporated into a definition of broader quality of life.     

Predictors of Life Satisfaction among Urban Iranian Women: An Exploratory Analysis

This paper explores life satisfaction among married and unmarried Iranian women in urban areas. Data is analyzed from a sample of 335 women of which 61% are married and 39% are unmarried (i.e., single, divorced, or widows). Data is collected through the use of self-reported questionnaires administered during 1992 and 1994. A series of path analysis and cross tabulations suggest that for married women life satisfaction is directly linked to their satisfaction with marriage, employment, and their leisure experiences. There is an inverse relationship between satisfaction and the women's activity, however. For unmarried women, satisfaction is affected by their leisure experiences and educational level. The study suggests that any effort to reduce or increase the educational, employment, or leisure activities of women will directly affect women's general satisfaction and therefore affect Iranian society as a whole.