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Title: The Living Arrangements of the Elderly Widows

Citation Type: Conference Paper

Publication Year: 2002

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Abstract: Between 1970 and 1990 the share of elderly women living alone grew noticeably in the U.S. (from 48% to 60.2%). At the same time, the share of elderly widows living with children decreased in a similar magnitude, with other types of living arrangements remained stationary. This fact is simultaneous to the big business in the relative income between widows and widows' children. The goal of the paper is to measure the contribution that the change in the relative had in accounting for the new patterns in widows' living arrangements. First, we explain how widows and widows' children are deciding their living arrangements for 1970. Then, we introduce the incomes of the nineties and measure the change in this demographic fact. We are constructing a simple model with a form of mutual concern between moms and children where their relative incomes affect outcomes. The elderly women and their children are deciding whether to live alone or to live together. We estimate the model using properties of the cross-sectional distribution of living arrangements in the seventies and use the model to assess how recent changes in economic fundamentals have shaped the in living arrangement.

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Authors: Bethencourt, Carlos; Rios-Rull, Jose Victor

Conference Name: VII Workshop on Dynamic Macroeconomics

Publisher Location: Galicia, Spain

Data Collections: IPUMS USA

Topics: Other

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