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Marital status, close social network and loneliness of older adults in the Czech Republic

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 October 2019

Martina Štípková Open the ORCID record for Martina Štípková [Opens in a new window]
Martina Štípková*
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology, Faculty of Philosophy and Arts, University of West Bohemia, Pilsen, Czech Republic
*
*Corresponding author. Email: marsti@kss.zcu.cz
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Abstract

The wellbeing of older adults is closely related to their social relationships. There is a well-documented association of widowhood with social isolation and loneliness, but less is known about the consequences of divorce. This paper focuses on the effects of divorce and widowhood on the characteristics of social networks and loneliness in the Czech Republic. Data from the Czech component of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe, 2015, are used. The results show that married older adults have the lowest levels of loneliness and, together with widowed men, the largest network of confidants. However, the size of the network is not associated with loneliness (net of socio-demographic variables). The only characteristic of the close social network that has an influence on loneliness is the presence of a partner in the network. This variable explains part of the advantage of spouses. Divorce is found to have a smaller impact on loneliness than widowhood, but the size of the difference depends on the gender and timing of the event. Widowed men seem to be most vulnerable while persons who divorce at age 50 or later experience the lowest level of loneliness among the unmarried groups. The favourable effect of late divorce can be interpreted in relation to the specific nature of partnership decisions in later life.

Keywords

divorcemarriagelater agepartnership qualitywidowhood
Type
Article
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 41 , Issue 3 , March 2021 , pp. 671 - 685
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019

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