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The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences Advance Access originally published online on June 5, 2009
The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences 2009 64B(6):777-787; doi:10.1093/geronb/gbp039
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© The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org.

Does Household Composition Explain Welfare Regime Poverty Risks for Older Adults and Other Household Members?

Tsui-o Tai and Judith Treas

The Department of Sociology, University of California, Irvine (UCI), Irvine, California

Address correspondence to Tsui-o Tai, PhD, Department of Sociology, University of California, Irvine, Social Science Plaza A, Room 3151, Irvine, CA 92696. Email: tsuiot{at}uci.edu


  Abstract

Objectives: This cross-national study examines the poverty of older adults and their household members and relates the risk of poverty to macrolevel state approaches to welfare as well as to microlevel composition of households.

Methods: Data on individuals in households with older adults for 22 countries come from the Luxembourg Income Survey. Robust cluster analysis relates the risk of poverty to the type of state welfare regime; the characteristics of the household head (age, gender, marital status, and education); as well as the household's numbers of earners, older adults, and children.

Results: Persons in households with older adults are significantly less likely to be poor in countries with social democratic and conservative welfare regimes than in Taiwan, an exemplar of limited social welfare programs. Controlling for country differences in household composition increases the differences in poverty risks. Living with fewer children, more older adults, and more earners lowers the risk of poverty, as does having a married and better educated household head.

Discussion: Countries with more generous social welfare provisions have lower risks of poverty despite having household characteristics that are comparatively unfavorable. As Taiwan demonstrates, household composition, particularly a reliance on multigenerational households, compensates for limited state welfare programs.

Key Words: Elderly poverty • Household composition • Multigenerational coresidence • Social security • Welfare regimes

Received July 8, 2008; Accepted April 15, 2009

Decision Editor: Kenneth F. Ferraro, PhD


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