Old But Not Alone: Informal Social Supports Among The Elderly by Marital Status and Sex

Despite hypotheses of greater social integration among the married and greater social skills of women, previous research has not demostrated such differences among the elderly. Analyses of indicators of informal social supports for respondents aged 55 and older included in a national Survey Research Center study indicated that the widowed elderly generally had an advantage over the married and that sex differences were similar between married and widowed elderly.