Factors associated with discordance of actual and preferred living arrangements among older adults: an analytical cross-sectional study in India

Shobhit Srivastava (), T. Muhammad () and Priya Saravanakumar ()
Additional contact information
Shobhit Srivastava: International Institute for Population Sciences
T. Muhammad: International Institute for Population Sciences
Priya Saravanakumar: University of Technology Sydney

Journal of Population Research, 2023, vol. 40, issue 3, No 5, 16 pages

Abstract: Abstract Despite the historical and cultural context of multigenerational living and family-oriented and filial old age-support in India, increased dependence of older adults on their children is becoming less of a norm than in the past. In this study, we explore the factors associated with the mismatch between preferred and actual living arrangements among older adults. We used national-level survey data from the survey of ‘building knowledge base on population aging in India’. The sample consisted of 9540 older adults age 60 years and above. Bivariate and multivariable logistic regression and interaction models were used to explore the associated factors of living arrangement discordance. A total of 35.2% of older adults reported discordance in their living arrangements. Older adults who reported feeling not comfortable with their present living arrangement had higher odds of discordance in living arrangement (AOR: 1.38, 95% CI 1.17, 1.63) than those who felt comfortable. The odds of discordance in living arrangement were 1.90 (95% CI 1.68, 2.14) among older adults who were currently in a marital union with reference to their counterparts who were not in a marital union. With the increase in the number of the surviving children, the likelihood of discordance in living arrangement among older adults significantly decreased. The interaction results for gender and feeling about present living arrangement suggested that only females who were comfortable about their present living arrangement (AOR: 0.73, 95% CI 0.56, 0.96) had significantly lower odds of discordance in living arrangement. Likewise, if educated older adults felt comfortable with their current living arrangement, they were less likely to report discordance in their living arrangement (AOR: 0.65, 95% CI 0.50, 0.84). The higher rates of mismatch in preferred and actual living arrangements of older adults in India may have implications on housing options available to them. Given the higher proportion of the aged population living in discordance between actual and preferred arrangements, our findings have implications for policies influencing development of older adults’ healthcare and social support programs in India as well as in other developing countries with similar cultural landscapes.

Keywords: Living arrangement; Discordance; Actual and preferred; Older adult; India (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s12546-023-09313-y Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

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:spr:joprea:v:40:y:2023:i:3:d:10.1007_s12546-023-09313-y

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.springer ... tudies/journal/12546

DOI: 10.1007/s12546-023-09313-y

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Population Research is currently edited by Santosh Jatrana, Dharmalingam Arunachalam, Aude Bernard, Vladimir Canudas-Romo, Ann Evans, Michael Haan, Brian Houle, Trude Lappegård and Gordon Carmichael

More articles in Journal of Population Research from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().