ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the nature and extent of variations between the sixteenth century and the present day in the residence patterns of elderly women in England. Comparisons are also made with the residence patterns of elderly English men and with the household and family patterns of elderly men and women in other parts of Europe. The classifications of residence patterns used in the chapter measure the proportions of elderly men and women who lived alone or with non-relatives only. For elderly men, the frequency of co-residence with a spouse rose only after 1921, reflecting the greater rise in female than in male life expectancy. At the end of the nineteenth and in the early twentieth century an elderly English woman was more likely to be living with a child than with her husband. The interrelationships between socioeconomic factors and residence patterns are particularly visible at the level of the individual household.
