Transitions from Independent Households to Supported Environments over Three Decades in England and Wales: Changing Roles of Family and State?

Emily Grundy, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

For older people with high assistance needs which preclude living independently, entry to institutional care or co-residence with family members are the main alternatives. Correlates of transitions from independent households to either institutional care or the households of relatives in England and Wales 1971-81 and 1981-91 have been previously investigated using data from the Office for National Statistics Longitudinal Study, a record linkage study including individual level data from censuses and vital registration for 1% of the population. During the 1990s major policy changes were introduced with the aim of reducing admissions to institutional care. In this paper I analyse factors associated with transition to institutions or to live with relatives between 1991 and 2001, using multinomial regression modeling, and then undertake a cross sequential analysis to see whether this balance differed in 1991-2001 from 1981-91.