AGE & RESIDENCE DIFFERENCES IN HOUSEHOLD COMPOSITION

为长者提供长期照顾的重要性， 非正式的助手已经引起了社会老年学的指导， 在描述的结构和功能的相当大的努力 围绕着老年人的支持网络， 这种交流的人际动态，并探讨 正规保健和人类服务提供者与 非正式网络。 因为家务助理大多数 往往是老年人应对日益增多的“第一道防线” 残疾人，该项目旨在促进更全面， 更详细地了解年龄和居住地的差异， 老年人的家庭组成。 公众使用 1980年人口普查的微观数据样本C文件 和住房代表了一个丰富的信息来源， 老年人及其家庭的全国抽样。 该公司将在 在这个项目中使用，以创建更精细的描绘， 年龄和居住地比以往大多数研究中使用的 因此，将允许更彻底地检查 这些因素与结构和组成的协变 65岁及以上个人的家庭。 作为 因此，将更好地了解 家庭内部潜在的 不同年龄的老人（包括最年长的老人） 不同的生活环境。 此外，通过使用其他 变量存在于数据集中，分析将检查 特定“高危”家庭组成的变化 老年人群体（例如，低收入者或 功能性残疾）。 最后，将在数据库中的数据 用于探索那些与之生活在一起的人的个人特征， 评估他们是否适合或有潜力成为照顾者 给老年人。

The importance of the long term care provided to elders by informal helpers has caused social gerontology to direct considerable efforts at describing the structure and function of the support networks which surround elders, illuminating the interpersonal dynamics of such exchanges, and probing the collaboration of formal health and human service providers with the informal network. Because intra-household helpers are most often the "first line of defense" for elders coping with increased disabilities, this project intends to contribute to a fuller, and more detailed, understanding of age and residence differences in the household composition of the elderly. The Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS) File C of the 1980 Census of Population and Housing represents a rich source of information on a large national sample of elders and their households. The PUMS will be used in this project to create more refined delineations of both age and residence than have been used in most previous research and, thus, will allow a more thorough examination of the covariation of these factors with the structure and composition of the households of individuals 65 years of age and over. As a consequence, a better understanding will emerge about the availability and characteristics of potential intra-household caregivers across elders of different ages (including the oldest- old) and different living environments. In addition, by using other variables which exist in the PUMS data set, analyses will examine variation in household composition for specific "at risk" populations of the elderly (e.g., those with low incomes or those with functional disabilities). Finally, the data in the PUMS will be used to explore the personal characteristics of those who live with elders and to estimate their suitability or potential as caregivers to the elderly.