Nearness of family - geographic proximity and care of older people in Sweden and Europe

In times of population ageing , care and support from families is often vital and old people with weak family ties become particularly vulnerable.

The aim of this project is to contribute to the research on the interplay between socio-demographic processes and family care to older people; how new patterns of the family landscape - presence of and proximity to family members - influences intergenerational care and support.The goals are:(i) To reveal how socio-demographic trends influence the nearness and presence of family members for older people across socio-economic groups, genders and regional contexts.(ii) To identify groups of multiple vulnerability with both limited resources and weak family networks(iii) To reveal to what extent the nearness and presence of family members determines the care and support provided by family members.(iv) To display differences in family landscape and family care and support between Sweden and European countries with other welfare modelsFirst, we use register data to explore how the presence of and proximity to family members have changed over time across socio-economic groups and gender; specifically groups with weak family networks.

Secondly, we will analyze how the accessibility to family network has changed across different types of regions.Thirdly, we use survey data to examine how presence of and proximity to family members is associated with care and support in Sweden and other European countries with different welfare regimes.