ABSTRACT
Household duties performed by pensioners are, of course, many and varied as are their abilities to carry them out. The help received from sons and daughters has already been dealt with and we will refer only briefly to the subject in this chapter. From Table 22 it is clear that more British pensioners received regular help from all sources than American pensioners: 35 per cent compared with 12 per cent. Some of the difference is accounted for by the 9 British pensioners who had home helps provided under the National Health Scheme on the recommendation of their doctors, 1 and much of the remainder by the fact that a larger number, 15, British individual pensioners, widows and widowers, lived in rooms, mostly with a married son or daughter, a situation which was less common amongst American pensioners. In both countries the bulk of the help from outside the home, regular and occasional, was furnished by daughters and daughters-in-law (foot of Table 22). Help with household duties (number: per cent of domiciliary group in brackets)
|
Help given |
TYPE OF HOUSEHOLD |
|||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Total households |
Total |
Couples living alone |
in rooms 1 |
with lodger 2 |
Total |
Individual living alone |
in rooms 1 |
with lodger 2 |
||||||||||
|
GB |
US |
GB |
US |
GB |
US |
GB |
US |
GB |
US |
GB |
US |
GB |
US |
GB |
US |
GB |
US |
|
|
Frequency |
||||||||||||||||||
|
Regularly |
30 (35%) |
12 |
12 (23%) |
5 |
8 (21%) |
3 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
— |
18 (38%) |
7 |
1 |
1 |
15 |
2 |
2 |
4 |
|
Occasionally |
6 |
11 |
6 |
6 |
5 |
6 |
— |
— |
1 |
— |
— |
5 |
— |
2 |
— |
3 |
— |
— |
|
Not at all |
49 (57%) |
77 |
31 (58%) |
52 (82%) |
22 (56%) |
48 (84%) |
2 |
1 |
7 |
3 |
18 (39%) |
25 (67%) |
9 |
20 |
4 |
2 |
5 |
3 |
|
Total Pensioners |
100 (100) |
100 |
53 (100) |
63 (100) |
39 (100) |
57 (100) |
4 |
3 |
10 |
3 |
47 (100) |
37 (100) |
15 |
23 |
21 |
7 |
11 |
7 |
|
Pensioners wi«h no children living |
15 |
28 |
4 |
14 |
4 |
14 |
— |
— |
— |
— |
11 |
14 |
5 |
12 |
2 |
— |
4 |
2 |
|
From |
||||||||||||||||||
|
Son/daughter (or in law) |
28 (33%) |
15 |
14 (24%) |
9 (14%) |
9 |
7 |
2 |
2 |
3 |
— |
14 (30%) |
6 |
— |
1 |
14 |
1 |
— |
4 |
|
Other relative |
1 |
2 |
— |
1 |
— |
1 |
— |
— |
— |
— |
1 |
1 |
— |
1 |
— |
— |
1 |
— |
|
Paid help (incl. home-help, GB) |
8 (9%) |
4 |
4 |
1 |
4 |
1 |
— |
— |
— |
— |
3 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
— |
|
Other |
— |
1 |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
1 |
— |
1 |
— |
— |
— |
— |
Mainly living with married son or daughter
Mainly unmarried sons or daughters but including lodgers and housekeeper
