 Access to kin, economic stress, and late-life mortality in North Orkney, Scotland, 1851–1911Julia A. Jennings Explorations in Economic History, 2024, vol. 94, issue C Abstract: This paper analyzes the effects of kin availability and short-term economic stress on mortality among older adults in North Orkney, Scotland in the mid-19th through early 20th century. The mortality of those aged 60+ is associated with high oatmeal prices lagged by one year, a delayed effect that may suggest that buffering mechanisms are less effective in the longer term or that relative to younger groups, older adults are better able to cope with the immediate effects of stress. Associations between mortality risk and indicators of kin availability vary by individual sociodemographic characteristics, but they are limited to close kin in both the spatial and genealogical sense. Benefits of nearby, but not coresident kin accrue only to ever-married men during times of high food prices. Coresident and nearby kin are associated with complex patterns of mortality risk, suggesting that family relationships may represent a resource in some circumstances, but a liability in others. There is limited evidence for the effects of expansive kin support for aging adults and support flows do not always favor the older generation. Keywords: Living standards; Old age; Mortality; Scotland; Kinship; Social support (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:exehis:v:94:y:2024:i:c:s0014498324000482 DOI: 10.1016/j.eeh.2024.101622 Access Statistics for this article Explorations in Economic History is currently edited by R.H. Steckel More articles in Explorations in Economic History from Elsevier |
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