Old age and the demographic transition

Summary

This paper examines the impact of the demographic transition upon the potential supply of, and demand for, family support for the aged in Australia. Using census and survey information on population cohorts entering old age, comparisons are drawn concerning their surviving issue, household composition and family membership. Long-term changes in fertility are shown to have had only a small impact upon the supply of potential carers among relatives and, although the demographic transition has led to a more universal inclusion of old people in family networks, there have not been major changes through time in the proportions living in extended family households. Short-term changes, however, such as low fertility during the 1930s, have caused disordered cohort flow, with the result that current generations of the elderly are members of deprived cohorts in terms of their access to family support.

This paper derives from the research of the Ageing and the Family Project at the Australian National University, and is a revised version of a paper presented at a conference on ‘Social Policy in the 1980s’, held in Canberra in May 1982. The ‘Ageing and the Family Project’ is funded by the university and is an interdisciplinary study launched in 1980 to enquire into the family circumstances of older people in Australia. The project has three academic staff with backgrounds in gerontology, sociology and demography. Helpful comments on the paper were made by J. C. Caldwell, D. M. Gibson, A. L. Howe, H. L. Kendig and L. T. Ruzicka.

This paper derives from the research of the Ageing and the Family Project at the Australian National University, and is a revised version of a paper presented at a conference on ‘Social Policy in the 1980s’, held in Canberra in May 1982. The ‘Ageing and the Family Project’ is funded by the university and is an interdisciplinary study launched in 1980 to enquire into the family circumstances of older people in Australia. The project has three academic staff with backgrounds in gerontology, sociology and demography. Helpful comments on the paper were made by J. C. Caldwell, D. M. Gibson, A. L. Howe, H. L. Kendig and L. T. Ruzicka.

Notes

This paper derives from the research of the Ageing and the Family Project at the Australian National University, and is a revised version of a paper presented at a conference on ‘Social Policy in the 1980s’, held in Canberra in May 1982. The ‘Ageing and the Family Project’ is funded by the university and is an interdisciplinary study launched in 1980 to enquire into the family circumstances of older people in Australia. The project has three academic staff with backgrounds in gerontology, sociology and demography. Helpful comments on the paper were made by J. C. Caldwell, D. M. Gibson, A. L. Howe, H. L. Kendig and L. T. Ruzicka.