SOCIAL CONNECTORS OR CONSTRAINTS: GENDER DIFFERENCES IN THE EFFECTS OF LIVING ARRANGEMENTS ON SOCIAL NETWORKS AND SOCIAL SUPPORT IN LATER LIFE

This study examines gender differences in the effects of household members (e.g., spouse, child, extended kin) on older adult’s social networks and social supports. As older men and women experience different expectations and obligations attached to their household roles, the same type of household members can be resources (connectors) for men and be costs (constraints) for women, and vice versa. Using data from the 2005-2006 National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP), the study finds that a spouse connects older men to large social networks and more social support than single, but a spouse for women is only associated with more support. Coresident adult children and young relatives constrain married men for large networks, while adult children connect single older men to a large networks and more support. The results are the opposite for older women: adult children constrain single older women to have large networks while young relatives connect married older women. Findings provide additional insight into the processes through which gender differences in potential support providers emerge at older age.