Living arrangements of older persons in 1987–2035 in Finland: trends by age, sex and educational attainment

Abstract

ABSTRACTChanges in household structure may have a major impact on the future wellbeing of older people. We evaluate changes in living arrangements of 65+ Finnish men and women from 1987 to 2011 and project living arrangements to 2035 by education level. We use an 11 per cent longitudinal sample of Finns drawn from the population registration data. We estimate proportions in various living arrangements and multi-state life table estimates of years lived in particular states. Projections are based on dynamic transition probability forecasts with constant and changing rates. We show that women more than men tend to live alone at older ages. These proportions are likely to start to decline slowly among women, particularly at 80+, but increase or stabilise among men. Apart from living with a marital or co-habiting partner, other living arrangements are growing increasingly rare. The number of basic educated older people is declining rapidly. Educational differences in living arrangements are modest among women, but among men living with a partner is more common among the higher educated. Future living arrangements of older people are strongly determined by past partnership behaviour and future changes in mortality. If life expectancy differences between men and women continue to converge, so will sex differences in the remaining years of life spent living with a partner.