Gender differences in elderly mobility in the United States

Suman Mitra, Mingqi Yao and Stephen G. Ritchie

Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, 2021, vol. 154, issue C, 203-226

Abstract: Mobility is a critical element of one's quality of life regardless of one's age. Although the challenges for women are more significant than those for men as they age, far less is known about the gender differences in mobility patterns of older adults, especially in the United States (US) context. This paper reports on a study that examined potential gender gaps in mobility patterns of older adults (aged 65 years and over) in the US by analyzing data from the 2017 National Household Travel Survey. Elderly respondents were first classified into one of six clusters based on socio-demographic variables. A Structural Equation Model (SEM) was then estimated and showed that gender gaps existed in the mobility patterns of the elderly, and the differences were diverse across the different clusters. The most substantial gender gap was found in the Senior Elder with Medical Condition(s) cluster, followed by the High-income Workers cluster and the Middle-income Urban Residents cluster. In contrast, females in the Low-Income Single Elder cluster enjoyed statistically significant positive mobility differences with their male counterparts. Our results also found that female elderly in the Senior Elder with Medical Condition(s) and the Low-income Family Elder clusters suffered most after the cessation of driving, with the largest mobility gender gap in the Middle-income Urban Resident cluster. This study will help transportation planners and policymakers understand gender and other socio-demographic differences in elderly mobility. Thus, it will facilitate the development of measures to improve elderly mobility and reduce gender gaps by recognizing and addressing specific target groups' mobility characteristics and needs rather than treating the elderly as a single potential user group.

Keywords: Elderly people; Older adults; Women; Gender gap; Mobility; Clustering analysis; Structural equation modeling (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0965856421002706
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:transa:v:154:y:2021:i:c:p:203-226

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/supportfaq.cws_home/regional
https://shop.elsevie ... _01_ooc_1&version=01

DOI: 10.1016/j.tra.2021.10.015

Access Statistics for this article

Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice is currently edited by John (J.M.) Rose

More articles in Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().