Living Arrangements and Conditions of Older People in Zimbabwe
Population studies
20
Issue: 2
(10 - 2005)
This research uses data from the 1994-1995 Zimbabwe Aging Survey complemented by the 1999
Zimbabwe Demographic and Health Survey to examine living arrangements and conditions of
older people in Zimbabwe. Living arrangements in Zimbabwe are similar to those found in other
sub-Saharan African countries. Older people are likely to be living with other kin and in a variety
of arrangements involving family members. To determine gender preference for co-resident with
children and other kin, we adjust living arrangement patterns for sex, dominant proportion of
living children and marital status. Data show that older people with living adult children are more
likely to co-reside with kin. However, older people with a dominant proportion of married children
are significantly (p<0.01) less likely to co-reside with married children. Furthermore, households
headed by older women are significantly (p<0.001) less likely to co-reside with kin.
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