The Living Arrangements of Canada's Older Women

Virginia Gillham is Associate Librarian in the Public Service Library at
the University of Guelph.

“The purpose of this report is to provide a review of the living arrangements of Canada’s older female population using data from the Census of Canada. The concentration on older women is the result of a decision to prepare a series of reports focusing on various aspects of the life of aging women.”

Using an assortment of bar and line graphs and statistical tables, the report addresses three main areas of concern: the prevalence of living arrangements with easy access to services from informal support networks; the distribution and change of types of living arrangements among older females; and the differences in living arrangement patterns among older men and older women. These topics are analyzed by drawing upon that census data which classifies respondents according to their household membership and their relationship to other members of the same household.

Considerable analytical text, including frequent references to relevant professional literature, accompanies the numerical reports. The alternative living arrangements available to female senior citizens are discussed and the report concludes with a mildly optimistic prediction for the future. An extensive bibliography is appended.

This is an extremely useful publication directed toward a significant, critical problem in our society. Its only drawback is its timing. Although it was published in April of 1982, it does not include data from the 1981 Census; 1976 Census information is the most recent. An improved publication would have resulted from delaying its appearance for another six months until the newer figures were available, rather than rendering it five years out of date almost immediately.