Future living arrangements preferences of middle-aged individuals in Turkey

Sutay Yavuz, Independent Researcher

Turkey’s demographic dynamics are swiftly beginning to resemble the demographic dynamics of the developed countries. The growth rates of young age groups have been declining as older age groups have been rapidly increasing. Demographic aging of some regions is occurring much faster than in others. Increase in elderly population will have profound implications on families, employment, health, long term care and housing. In Turkey predominant cultural values are “family-oriented” and elderly care is traditionally accepted as the responsibility of family and the community. Majority of the elderly lives with their children in Turkey. However, along with societal changes there is change in this co-residence pattern too; increasingly elderly prefer to live nearby to their children instead of co-residing with them. We aim to understand influence of family resources, socioeconomic status and cultural preferences on middle-aged individuals living arrangement preferences for old ages. Data is drawn from ‘Research on Family Structure 2011’ survey. The findings show that among the middle aged individuals, those who have higher socioeconomic resources and have more modern or secular attitudes are more likely to prefer ‘nursing home’ or ‘home care service’ options compared to ‘co-residence with children’. On the other hand, those who have higher family resources are more likely to co-reside with children living arrangement pattern.