Does household composition explain welfare regime poverty risks for older adults and other household members?
OBJECTIVE
This cross-national study examines the poverty of older adults and their household members and relates the risk of poverty to macrolevel state approaches to welfare as well as to microlevel composition of households.


METHODS
Data on individuals in households with older adults for 22 countries come from the Luxembourg Income Survey. Robust cluster analysis relates the risk of poverty to the type of state welfare regime; the characteristics of the household head (age, gender, marital status, and education); as well as the household's numbers of earners, older adults, and children.


RESULTS
Persons in households with older adults are significantly less likely to be poor in countries with social democratic and conservative welfare regimes than in Taiwan, an exemplar of limited social welfare programs. Controlling for country differences in household composition increases the differences in poverty risks. Living with fewer children, more older adults, and more earners lowers the risk of poverty, as does having a married and better educated household head.


CONCLUSIONS
Countries with more generous social welfare provisions have lower risks of poverty despite having household characteristics that are comparatively unfavorable. As Taiwan demonstrates, household composition, particularly a reliance on multigenerational households, compensates for limited state welfare programs.
Tai
Tsui-o
TO
Department of Sociology, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA 92696, USA. tsuiot@uci.edu
Treas
Judith
J
D000368:Aged / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000369:Aged, 80 and over / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004522:Educational Status; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008297:Male; D017533:Marital Status / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011203:Poverty / Q000191:economics*; D012847:Single Person / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012946:Social Welfare