Future Living Arrangement Preferences of Middle-Aged Individuals in Turkey

Turkey is swiftly transforming into an aging country due to its demographic dynamics. In Turkey predominant cultural values are “family-oriented”. Older individuals are traditionally taken care of by family and the community. Today, a majority of the older age population lives in family households. While significant proportions of older adults live with their child(ren), societal change is altering co-residence patterns where older adults increasingly prefer to live independently (“Couples without resident children” or “One-person households”). We attempt to explore living arrangement preferences of middle-aged persons concerning their own old age. This study specifically intends to describe influences of family resources, socioeconomic status and cultural preferences on these preferences. Data is drawn from the ‘Research on Family Structure 2011’ survey. Multinomial Logistic Regression models are used to examine factors associated with older age living arrangement preferences. The analysis unit was individuals aged 50-59 who had at least one child. The findings show that individuals who have higher socioeconomic resources and have adopted more modern or secular attitudes are more likely to prefer ‘nursing home’ or ‘home care service’ options compared to ‘co-residence with children’. On the other hand, those who have family resources and have adopted more traditional attitudes are more prone to choose to co-reside with their children. Familial and socioeconomic resources and cultural tendencies significantly influence preferences for old-age living arrangement choices. Considering ongoing trends of population aging and societal changes, demands and expectations of individuals regarding old age living arrangements and care needs may turn out to be among the increasingly pressing issues Turkey will face over the next one to two decades