Transitions into sheltered accommodation and residential care in later life: evidence from the British Household Panel Survey (1991-2008)

Maria Evandrou, University of Southampton
Jane C. Falkingham, University of Southampton
Olga Maslovskaya, University of Southampton
Athina Vlachantoni, University of Southampton

The UK’s population is ageing. In 2011, people aged 65 and over formed 17% of the total UK population and by 2033 this figure is projected to rise to 23% (ONS 2010). Understanding the dynamics of living arrangements in later life and the implications for the provision and funding of appropriate housing and long-term care is critical given population ageing and the current economic climate which can have an adverse impact on state support for older people. This paper investigates the dynamics of living arrangements amongst people aged 65 years old and over between 1991 and 2008, focussing on the two key housing and care pathways in the latter part of the life course: moving into sheltered accommodation and moving into residential care. The empirical research examines the rates of moving into sheltered accommodation and institutional care after age 64, as well as investigating the determinants and probabilities of these transitions in the UK. The paper employs all 18 waves of the British Household Survey data (1991-2008) and uses a discrete-time logistic regression model in order to model the probability of entering sheltered accommodation and residential care. The paper shows that the factors associated with each of the two transitions in later life are different; for example age, health and marital status are significant determinants of an older person’s move into residential care, while the move into sheltered accommodation is in addition associated with an older person’s housing tenure and highest educational qualification. Such results indicate that the two kinds of transition may be more prevalent in different stages of the latter part of the life course, and have crucial implications for the design of social care provision for older people in the future.