Older Widows' Intentions to Stay or Move from Their Homes

The number of elderly who live alone is increasing rapidly; many such persons are vulnerable and “at risk.” Older urban widows ( N = 221) who live alone in their own homes were interviewed in depth regarding a large number of objec tive and subjective variables related to economic circumstances, health, housing and neighborhood characteristics, social support systems, subjective well‐being, and attitudes about their homes. Widows' intentions to remain in their homes or move from them were not closely related to sociodemographic or objective factors. Rather, these intentions were related to widows' subjective attitudes re flecting the attachment‐to‐home phenomenon.