SOCIAL SUPPORT IN OLDER AGE - ASSESSING THE IMPACT OF MARITAL AND PARENT STATUS

In this study we examine the impact of parent status and marital statu s on (1) the foundations of social support networks and (2) who one tu rns to if help is required with activities of daily living. Data are t aken from structured interviews with 678 community-dwelling persons ag ed 55 and over in London, Canada. This sample overrepresents the child less, single (never married), and divorced, thus ensuring adequate num bers in each category for data analysis. Our findings indicate that ma rital status is more influential than parent status regarding differen ces in the foundations of social support. However, for more specific f orms of assistance, the divorced and single are more likely than the m arried, and the childless are more likely than parents to rely on form al support and paid help and less likely to rely on family. As well, f or both marital and parent status, there are significant interactions with gender.