Workshop

About the Workshop

Family ties play a vital role in facilitating various types of intra- and inter-generational transfers, including economic, instrumental, social, emotional, and care support. These ties are consistently linked to the health and well-being of older adults worldwide. However, recent demographic shifts—such as population aging, below-replacement fertility, and increased migration—alongside social, economic, and technological changes, have reshaped family structures and dynamics for current and future cohorts of older persons. Consequently, researchers are increasingly focusing on phenomena such as solo-living older adults, childless aging, “kinlessness”, sole family survivorship, elder orphans, and late-life friendships. As global trends toward smaller families and longer lifespans persist, there is an urgent need for additional empirical studies and theoretical development in this field.

This international workshop brings together empirical research examining the complex dimensions of aging with limited family ties and their implications for care support, health, and well-being of older adults. Contributions cover a wide range of geographic regions, including East Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Oceania, North America, Latin America, Europe, and Sub-Saharan Africa, ensuring a truly global perspective. The presentations feature research with diverse methodological approaches, including quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods studies, with both single-country and cross-national comparisons. The proceedings from this international workshop will contribute to a special issue of Social Science & Medicine on the same theme.

The topics addressed include:
• Trends in limited kin availability (e.g., childlessness, kinlessness, sole family survivorship, one-child families, lifelong singlehood, solo living) and implications for health and well-being
• Long-term care, dementia care, and end-of-life care for older adults with restricted family ties
• Alternative support systems and innovations in care for older adults with minimal kin connections.
• The roles of social integration and social networks in supporting older adults with limited family ties and their implications for later-life health.

 

Workshop Convenors/Guest Editors

Bussarawan Teerawichitchainan

Associate Professor, Department of Sociology and Anthropology & Centre for Family and Population Research, National University of Singapore

 

Christine A. Mair

Associate Professor, Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Public Health & Center for Health and Equity, and Aging, University of Maryland Baltimore County

 

 

For more information: please email cfpr@nus.edu.sg