ABSTRACT
The majority of elderly people in England (about two-thirds) live either on their own or with an elderly spouse. There are, sis is to be expected, considerable variations between age-groups, so that the proportion living alone increases with increasing age. Just over two-fifths of those aged 85 and over live on their own – the combination of their advanced age and their solitary living circumstances making them a particularly vulnerable section of the elderly population. Amongst the most severely dependent of the elderly population, there is a small proportion who live alone: approximately 8 per cent of those who cannot get to the lavatory unaided and 9 per cent of those who cannot get in and out of bed without help are on their own and a quarter of those who are bedfast or housebound are similarly dependent on outside helpers (Hunt, 1978).
