Ascendancy of Socioeconomic Traits on the Loneliness and Subjective Well-Being of the Empty Nest Elderly
摘要
In the fast pace world, the elderly parents who live alone without the presence of the young adults in the parental nest are called as empty nest elderly. This chapter mainly highlights the ascendancy of socioeconomic traits on the loneliness and the subjective well-being of the empty nest elderly. Gender, marital status, family income, education and occupation, frequency of mobile contacts, and the visits by the young adults are the traits analyzed to find the level of loneliness and subjective well-being of the empty nest elderly. By adopting purposive sampling technique, 281 sample respondents were identified along with some case studies. The UCLA Loneliness Scale and Helmut Sell’s Subjective Well-Being Inventory (1992) by World Health Organization are used. The study has yielded some interesting findings that the female empty nest elderly’s subjective well-being is higher when compared to male. The higher level of family income decreases the loneliness of the empty nest elderly. Good marital relationship, high income, close relationship, more frequency of mobile contacts, and regular visit by the young adults promotes the high level of subjective well-being. Living alone, low income, lack of close relationship, less frequency of mobile contacts, and rare visits by the young adults increase the level of loneliness among the empty nest elderly. Elderly park, recreational and health centers with free elderly bus, peer group support, social security, and social policies will surely reshape the empty nest into a safe and peaceful nest.