Читать книгу Pathy's Principles and Practice of Geriatric Medicine - Группа авторов - Страница 105

The structure of the modern family in the post‐industrialization period has been influenced by increased age at marriage, increased divorce rate, high geographic mobility, more women in the workforce, and fewer children. In Europe, Asia, North America, and Australia, this has created a ‘sandwich generation’, where middle‐aged people need to provide care for both dependent children and parents. The sandwich generation faces a number of financial and logistical constraints in providing care for ageing relatives (see “Caregiver relationships”). Nevertheless, there is no evidence that the modern family cares less for its elders than past families. In the US, approximately 80% of older people have living children, two‐thirds of whom live within 30 minutes of their elderly parent. Furthermore, approximately 75% of those over 65 have daily personal or telephone visits with their children.

In 2017, the UN studied the living arrangements of older adults. Data were available from 143 countries and examined living arrangements at a household level. Institutionalized older adults were excluded from this study but tend to make up only a small proportion of the older adult population (e.g. approximately 5% in the US). Based on the UN global report, 13.3% of older adults over 65 live alone, 27% with their spouses, 50.1% with adult children, and 9.6% in other arrangements. Adults are much more likely to live independently, i.e. either alone or with their spouse, in high‐income, developed countries. In Western Europe, almost 88% of adults over 65 live independently, and in North America, nearly 78% of older adults live independently. In much of Africa and Asia, two‐thirds of older adults live with their children due to various financial reasons and cultural norms. Compared to data from 2005, there seems to be a gradual trend toward more adults living independently worldwide.