Margolis Rachel, Verdery Ashton M
Department of Sociology, University of Western Ontario, Social Science Center, London, Canada.
Department of Sociology and Criminology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park.
J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. 2017 Jul 1;72(4):688-693. doi: 10.1093/geronb/gbx068.
We document the size and characteristics of the population of older adults without close kin in the contemporary United States.
Using the Health and Retirement Study, we examine the prevalence of lacking different types and combinations of living kin, examine how kinless-ness is changing across birth cohorts, and provide estimates of kinless-ness for sociodemographic and health groups.
In 1998-2010, 6.6% of U.S. adults aged 55 and above lacked a living spouse and biological children and 1% lacked a partner/spouse, any children, biological siblings, and biological parents. Kinless-ness, defined both ways, is becoming more common among adults in their 50s and 60s for more recent birth cohorts. Lacking close kin is more prevalent among women than men, native born than immigrants, never-married, those living alone, college-educated women, those with low levels of wealth, and those in poor health.
Kinless-ness should be of interest to policy makers because it is more common among those with social, economic and health risks; those who live alone, with low levels of wealth, and disability. Aging research should address the implications of kinless-ness for public health, social isolation, and the demand for institutional care.
我们记录了当代美国没有近亲的老年人的数量及特征。
利用健康与退休研究，我们研究了缺乏不同类型及组合的在世亲属的患病率，研究了无亲状况在不同出生队列中的变化情况，并提供了社会人口统计学和健康群体的无亲状况估计值。
在1998 - 2010年期间，55岁及以上的美国成年人中，6.6%没有在世配偶和亲生子女，1%没有伴侣/配偶、任何子女、亲生兄弟姐妹和亲生父母。以这两种方式定义的无亲状况，在最近出生队列的50多岁和60多岁成年人中变得更为普遍。缺乏近亲在女性中比男性更普遍，在美国本土出生的人比移民更普遍，从未结婚的人、独居者、受过大学教育的女性、财富水平低的人以及健康状况差的人更普遍。
无亲状况应引起政策制定者的关注，因为它在具有社会、经济和健康风险的人群中更为常见；这些人独居、财富水平低且有残疾。老龄化研究应探讨无亲状况对公共卫生、社会隔离和机构护理需求的影响。
