PSY 3123 Lecture Notes - Lecture 21: Dependency Ratio, Nuclear Family, Patrilineality
28 Apr 2018
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April 4, 2018
The Future of the Family
An Aging Population
The aging of the population will have a number of consequences in the future
-Who will support the growing number of seniors?
-What new or expanded services will be needed?
-How much will the costs of medical care increase as seniors age?
-How will such costs be covered?
New dependency ratio: seniors more than youth are the dependant (baby boom, having fewer children)
-Thus, the need for age-related services will increase
-Cost will be partly offset by reduced spending in areas such as education because of the smaller percentage of
children in the population
-NB: dependency ratio = ratio between dependents (seniors and children) and workers, expressed as the number of
dependants for every 100 workers
Different Types of Families
Since the late 1960s, the numbers of “different’ family forms have increased
This trend is expected to continue
More people live alone now than in the past
-2011: women aged 65 and over were nearly twice as likely to live alone (31.5% to 16% of men)
-Relates to lower life expectancy of males
-Widows are better able to live alone rather than with family members because most have worked outside the home
and have own savings or pensions
Marriage patterns are changing
-Unmarried cohabitation, including relationships between same-sex individuals, has increased
-Divorce and remarriage have increased
Children’s living situations have changed
-Children have older parents and fewer siblings
-Likely to have more living grandparents
-More children live in stepfamilies now than in the pst
Children will have more parent figures in the coming years
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Document Summary
The aging of the population will have a number of consequences in the future. New dependency ratio: seniors more than youth are the dependant (baby boom, having fewer children) Thus, the need for age-related services will increase. Cost will be partly offset by reduced spending in areas such as education because of the smaller percentage of children in the population. Nb: dependency ratio = ratio between dependents (seniors and children) and workers, expressed as the number of dependants for every 100 workers. Since the late 1960s, the numbers of different" family forms have increased. More people live alone now than in the past. 2011: women aged 65 and over were nearly twice as likely to live alone (31. 5% to 16% of men) Relates to lower life expectancy of males. Widows are better able to live alone rather than with family members because most have worked outside the home and have own savings or pensions.
