THE FAMILY AND COMMUNITY LIFE OF OLDER-PEOPLE - HOUSEHOLD COMPOSITIONAND SOCIAL NETWORKS IN 3 URBAN AREAS

The post-war period has witnessed considerable change in England affec ting family structures and social relationships both within, and betwe en, the generations. In this paper, we report on research which has ex amined the impact of these changes on the lives of older people. Three urban areas: Bethnal Green and Woodford in London, and Wolverhampton in the West Midlands, are the locations for this project. All three we re the subject of classic community studies in the 1940s and 1950s, pr oviding rich material about the family and community life of older peo ple. Using these as a baseline, we have examined changes to the social and family networks of older people over the intervening years. Our r esearch comprised a questionnaire-based survey of 627 older people, fo llowed-up one year later by a series of in-depth interviews with 62 pe ople over the age of 75 (and 19 second generation members in their net works). We also undertook 35 interviews with Indian and Bangladeshi el ders in Wolverhampton and Bethnal Green. Findings reported concern the living arrangements of older people and their relationships with netw ork members. In particular, we note the marked trend towards solo livi ng or living in married pairs amongst the white population, and the im portance of multigeneration households amongst the two minority ethnic groups. Together with the enduring importance of family and the signi ficance of friends, there are also crucial differences, notably in the ways people maintain contact with members of their networks.