M. Manfredini, M. Breschi & A. FornasinM. Manfredini, M. Breschi & A. Fornasin

Living arrangements and the elderly Living arrangements and the elderly Casalguidi, 1819-59Casalguidi, 1819-59

The starting pointThe starting point

One of the main assumptions of family historians is that elderly people living in One of the main assumptions of family historians is that elderly people living in large and complex households could count on more favorable living conditions large and complex households could count on more favorable living conditions than those living in nuclear ones. There is in fact large agreement that complex than those living in nuclear ones. There is in fact large agreement that complex households – multigenerational households in particular - could provide the households – multigenerational households in particular - could provide the elderly with “a secure existence through co-residence with their children” elderly with “a secure existence through co-residence with their children” (Kertzer, 1995, 368), and that they were also in a position of power and great (Kertzer, 1995, 368), and that they were also in a position of power and great authority over the whole household.authority over the whole household.

Our goal is to check whether such social and structural differences could turn Our goal is to check whether such social and structural differences could turn into mortality differentials for the elderly of a Tuscan community of mid-19th into mortality differentials for the elderly of a Tuscan community of mid-19th century – century – CASALGUIDI -CASALGUIDI - in which two opposite family systems co-existed, the in which two opposite family systems co-existed, the joint family system of sharecroppers and the nuclear family system of day joint family system of sharecroppers and the nuclear family system of day laborers.laborers.

The population of Casalguidi, 1819-59The population of Casalguidi, 1819-59

Mean Pop. SizeMean Pop. Size 2,4002,400

Mean Household numberMean Household number 462462

EconomyEconomyPrevalently rural andPrevalently rural and characterized by characterized by thethe typical Tuscan sharecropping, typical Tuscan sharecropping, called called MezzadriaMezzadria

Political situationPolitical situationIn the period 1819-59, Casalguidi In the period 1819-59, Casalguidi belonged to the Grand Duchy of belonged to the Grand Duchy of Tuscany. In 1861 it became part of the Tuscany. In 1861 it became part of the Italian KingdomItalian Kingdom

Casalguidi

Sharecroppers and day laborersSharecroppers and day laborersTwo opposite family systemsTwo opposite family systems

Day laborersDay laborers

Earlier marriage only for M (yrs)27.3 M 25.0 F

Lower permanent celibacy rates (%)7.5 5.3

Living arrangementNuclear family system

SharecroppersSharecroppers

Late marriage (yrs) 28.7 M 24.9 F

High permanent celibacy rates (%)14.8 11.5

Living arrangementJoint family system

MethodMethod

Raw DataRaw Data 1. Parish registers of Birth, Marriage and Death for the period 1819-18592. Annual Stati Animarum (census-like data)3. Family Tax Registers

TechniqueTechnique Nominative Record Linkage

DatasetDataset Household, individual and couple life-histories reconstructed year by year and linked to SES

information. Up to date, the dataset consists of circa 100,000 person- years and 19,000 household-years

The people 60+ years in CasalguidiThe people 60+ years in Casalguidi

M F TOT

Individuals 60+ 502 524 1,026

Person-years 4,076 4,007 8,083

0.0

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6.0

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1815 1820 1825 1830 1835 1840 1845 1850 1855 1860 1865

% o

f el

derly

60

+

Raw data

3-term moving average

Household structure and the elderlyHousehold structure and the elderlyHousehold perspectiveHousehold perspective

With elderly

Withoutelderly Total Total

hh-years

Nuclear 18.3 81.7 32.6 10,982

Complex 59.4 40.6 61.0 6,332

No structure 24.0 76.0 1.6 408

One-person hh 35.9 64.1 4.8 831

Total 33.2 66.8 100.0 18,553

% of households with elderly people by household structure

Complex = Multiple, extended, and frereche

Headship rateHeadship rate

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20.0

40.0

60.0

80.0

100.0

20-24 25-29 30-34 35-39 40-44 45-49 50-54 55-59 60-64 65-69 70-74 75-79 80-84

%

Complex

Nuclear

Total

0.0

20.0

40.0

60.0

80.0

100.0

20-24 25-29 30-34 35-39 40-44 45-49 50-54 55-59 60-64 65-69 70-74 75-79 80-84

%Complex

Nuclear

Total

MalesMales

FemalesFemales

Households with elderly people by Family Tax and Households with elderly people by Family Tax and structure (%)structure (%)

Complex Nuclear Total

Untaxed 20.4 40.5 30.8

Low Tax Group 55.6 48.7 50.5

High & Medium Tax Group 24.1 10.8 18.7

Total household-years 3,762 2,009 6,167

Total = Complex + Nuclear + One-person hh + No structure hh

Event History AnalysisEvent History Analysis Models of Old Age Mortality – VariablesModels of Old Age Mortality – Variables

Household structure Nuclear, both parents coresiding (reference category) Nuclear, one-parent household Complex, 1 conjugal unit Complex, 2+ conjugal units No structure

Family Tax (proxy of wealth and SES) Untaxed (reference category) Low Tax Group Medium & High Tax Group

The model controls also for individual’s age, position within the household (HH or not), and for the cholera epidemic of 1854-55

Event History AnalysisEvent History Analysis Models of Old Age Mortality – ResultsModels of Old Age Mortality – Results

Males Females

Covariate Freq. Odds Freq. Odds

M1 M2 M1 M2

Household structure (ref. nuclear) 33.8 1.000 1.000 13.7 1.000 1.000

One-parent household 3.4 1.097 1.122 12.9 0.459 0.361

Complex with 1 conjugal unit 3.3 1.110 1.289 19.6 0.768 0.749

Complex with 2+ conjugal units 58.5 0.856 1.190 51.7 0.831 0.939

No structure 1.0 1.392 1.908 2.2 0.757 0.560

Family Tax (ref. Untaxed) 23.2 1.000 32.2 1.000

Low Tax group 55.3 0.273 50.5 0.456

Medium-High Tax 21.5 0.271 17.3 0.552

Person-years 4,006 4,006 3,645 3,645

Events 272 272 201 201 Log-likelihood -938.6 -894.7 -746.2 -735.4

LR test - p-val <0.001 <0.001

In bold, coefficients statistically significant at p<0.05.

Conclusions…Conclusions… In the mid-19th century community of Casalguidi, two very different family

systems co-existed: the joint-family system of sharecroppers and the nuclear family system of day laborers.

On account of the different socioeconomic status of the two farm categories, elderly individuals living in complex households were in better economic conditions than those in nuclear ones.

Did living arrangement and SES have an effect on elderly mortality? Which counted more? Event History Analysis of old-age mortality has showed that the survival of old age people was largely conditioned by household SES (Family Tax), whereas the form of living arrangement did play only a marginal (and not significant) role, both for males and females.

……and future perspectivesand future perspectives Shifting from the rigid and schematic categorization of the forms of living

arrangement to the more dynamic analysis of co-resident individuals

Including the kin network outside the household as a potential explicative factor of differentials in old age mortality.

Household structure and the elderlyHousehold structure and the elderlyIndividual perspectiveIndividual perspective

Modifications/changes in living arrangements of elderly people. Only individuals observed for 5+ years.

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70.0

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Number of changes / modifications

Per

cen

t va

lues

Complex = 69.9%

Nuclear = 24.9%

Others = 5.2%

Nuclear – Complex = 55.6%

Complex – Nuclear = 25.5%

Others = 19.0%