Deck 7: Families in Middle and Later Life: Patterns and Dynamics of Living Longer, Aging Together

Question 1

A focus on families in mid-life often leads people to think of adults in their forties or fifties, with their own children about to be, or already, ________ from home (i.e. living independently from the parents in a separate household).

A) launched
B) sent-off
C) propelled
D) flung away
E) thrown

Answer 1

launched

Question 2

"________" refers to not evolving forward into culturally expected experiences (e.g. marriage and parenthood in the family trajectory).

A) Non-transitioning
B) Non-conversion
C) Inadaptability
D) Anti-modifying
E) Non-shifting

Answer 2

Non-transitioning

Question 3

How has the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the relationships of cross-generational family support?

A) It has magnified the need for such support as job loss and evictions have become increasingly common.
B) It has demonstrated that family support plays an important role along state and community support.
C) It has demonstrated that financial and emotional independence is essential in times of crisis and isolation.
D) It has decreased the need for financial and emotional support from family as more people are isolating and living independently.
E) It has decreased the need for family support as more individuals have relied on state support.

Answer 3

It has magnified the need for such support as job loss and evictions have become increasingly common.

Question 4

According to the United Nations Development Programme (2019), the average life expectancy in Canada is _______ years.

A) 74.7
B) 79.0
C) 82.3
D) 85.2
E) 90.4

Question 5

The following statements regarding the empty nest stage is false: ________

A) The empty nest stage refers to the years prior to the traditional marker of old age at age 65.
B) The empty nest stage is a pre-retirement stage that typically involves adult children being successfully launched from the family home, leaving aging parents to plan towards their work-free years as a couple.
C) Over the past few decades, with the growing proportion of adult children staying or returning home, the empty nest has increasingly become a cluttered nest.
D) The empty nest stage refers to a widow or widower co-residing with adult children.
E) c and d are both false.

Question 6

"________" refers to two or more generations in a family living together.

A) Cohort living
B) Group arrangements
C) Family ambiguity
D) Family cohesiveness
E) Intergenerational co-residence

Question 7

The Census Metropolitan Areas with the highest proportion of intergenerational co-residence are ________ and ________

A) Edmonton; Vancouver.
B) Regina; Saskatoon.
C) Winnipeg; Montreal.
D) Toronto; Oshawa.
E) Halifax; Moncton.

Question 8

In 2016 the mean age of first birth for women in Canada was ________

A) 24.5.
B) 26.0.
C) 29.2.
D) 32.5.
E) 35.0.

Question 9

"________" refers to the increasing period of the life course when members of different generations co-exist. For example, many adult children may have at least one living parent when they turn 50 or even 60 years of age.

A) Attachment theory
B) The longevity era
C) Co-longevity of generations
D) The domestic delay
E) The kinfolk adjournment

Question 10

The term "boomerang children" refers to ________

A) children who are split between their parents during a divorce.
B) adult children who seek consolation from their parents when times are tough.
C) adult children who return home to live with their parents after a period of living independently.
D) adult children who are married but continue to rely on their parents for advice or money.
E) grandchildren with too much energy.

Question 11

Being able to live safely and independently in one's own home or community for as long as one wishes, with necessary levels of health and social supports and services, is referred to as ________

A) the co-longevity of different generations.
B) population aging.
C) age in place.
D) a bi-directional flow.
E) sociological ambivalence.

Question 12

Mid-life parents who are in their peak earning years provide a significant amount of financial and instrumental support to their co-resident children. Assistance takes multiple forms including ________

A) the payment of tuition and other post-secondary fees.
B) funds for housing and utilities.
C) extra money for food.
D) transportation funds.
E) all of the above.

Question 13

Recent statistics (2008) indicate that the average age at first marriage was ________ for women and ________ for men.

A) 23.2; 25.5
B) 25.0; 27.8
C) 29.6; 31.0
D) 30.2; 32.5
E) 33.0; 35.5

Question 14

The return of adult children to the parental home is often precipitated by all of the following except ________

A) separation from their spouse.
B) the break-up of a common-law relationship.
C) divorce.
D) a transition from full-time employment to unemployment.
E) "marriage".

Question 15

"________" are those who leave the family home and return multiple times (i.e. three or more over the life course).

A) Serial home leavers
B) Constant kick-backs
C) Rebounders
D) Serial family vaulters
E) Springers and recoilers

Question 16

The study of "________" by sociologists has focused on the ongoing negotiation of contradictions in family relationships and their connections to how social life is organized and structured.

A) empty nesters
B) ambivalence
C) sole parenting
D) eldercare
E) generational care

Question 17

Later-life divorce, also called "silver divorce" or "________", is becoming more common and more acceptable.

A) golden divorce
B) gray divorce
C) elderly split-up
D) pensioner separation
E) elderly divorce

Question 18

The biggest reason for the increase in late-life divorce is the changing status of women, who initiate about ________ of divorces after the age of 40.

A) 20 per cent
B) 40 per cent
C) 60 per cent
D) 80 per cent
E) 100 per cent

Question 19

"________" is a characteristic of societies where the median age rises due to such factors as increasing life expectancy, declining birth rates, and low immigration. Societies are considered old when 14 per cent or more of the population is aged 65 years and older.

A) Residential aging
B) A maturing populace
C) A senior population
D) Population aging
E) Population maturing

Question 20

The following statement is true with regard to remarriage: ________

A) Women are more likely to remarry than men.
B) Divorced or widowed men in middle-to-older age groups value their new-found independence and prefer to remain single.
C) Some women find it difficult to make the transition to being on their own without the emotional and instrumental support of a partner and consequently seek out companionship soon after divorce to fill that void.
D) Research on remarriage indicates that couples are at an increased risk of divorce compared to first marriages.
E) Remarriages in mid-to-later life have a lower likelihood of marital disruption, particularly if both partners had experienced the death of their first spouses.

Question 21

The remarriage of two previously married adults in mid-to-later life often involves the blending of two families, referred to in the literature as a ________

A) complex stepfamily.
B) compounded family.
C) intricate group.
D) difficult family experience.
E) perplexing stepfamily.

Question 22

A complex stepfamily refers to ________

A) a family with no two children having the same set of parents.
B) the blending of two families into a much more manageable stepfamily.
C) the end of co-residency of older adult children.
D) the remarriage of two previously married individuals in mid-life and the blending of their families.
E) a family comprised of stepchildren and adopted children.

Question 23

There is considerable evidence of "bi-directional flows" between generations in terms of all of the following except ________

A) financial resources.
B) emotional exchanges.
C) time devoted to caregiving.
D) time devoted to grandchildren.
E) for friends in times of need.

Question 24

When challenges force a change in patterns of exchange within the family, family members tend to become "________" to one another.

A) family savers
B) family helpers
C) family adjustors
D) dependable assets
E) family protectors

Question 25

Although the compression of morbidity to the latter years of old age (80+) has resulted in a greater number of disability-free years for older people, older wives and ________ remain the backbone of systems of care within families.

A) young wives
B) single women
C) mid-life daughters
D) adult-aged grand-daughters
E) adult sons

Question 26

Social support for older parents is comprised of three main domains: ________

A) physical, social, and financial.
B) social, emotional, and instrumental.
C) financial, instrumental, and emotional.
D) instrumental, physical, and emotional.
E) social, instrumental, and physical.

Question 27

Adults, usually in mid-life, who provide care to their aging parents while supporting their own children are said to be part of the ________

A) hoagie generation.
B) squeezed-in generation.
C) sandwich generation.
D) double-decker generation.
E) family care-giving generation.

Question 28

"Aging in place" refers to ________

A) "coming out" as gay or lesbian when one is older.
B) attending elderly social clubs.
C) older people living in nursing homes who are not mobile.
D) being able to live safely and independently in one's own home or community for as long as one wishes, with necessary levels of health and social supports and services.
E) being a great-grandparent.

Question 29

"________" refers to the provision of health and social services to individuals in their own homes, often combining the services of paid health personnel and the care of family and friends.

A) Household watchfulness
B) Healthcare maintenance
C) Household safeguarding
D) Home care
E) Healthcare preservation

Question 30

A striking characteristic of Canada's older adult population is the large and increasing imbalance in the proportions of men and women. By age 85, women will outnumber men by more than ________

A) two to one.
B) four to one.
C) six to one.
D) eight to one.
E) 10 to one.

Question 31

Family forms with same-sex dyads forming the nucleus of the family unit may be referred to as _______ families.

A) coming-out
B) LGBTQ
C) modern
D) new nuclear or new blended
E) phenomenal

Question 32

While our understandings of widowhood following long-term same-sex unions and marriages are still limited, long-partnered but unmarried opposite sex and same-sex partners often experienced what has been termed "________"

A) disenfranchised grief.
B) marginalized grief.
C) displaced grief.
D) excluded grief.
E) alienated grief.

Question 33

Cuts to social welfare programs over time have weakened the knots of the safety net in low-income families, increasing the likelihood of earlier than expected launches and the posting of no re-entry signs for children wanting to return home. As a result, young adult children may be forced into all of the following except ________

A) a cycle of poverty.
B) living at risk on the streets.
C) suffering from chronic unemployment.
D) engaging in high risk behaviours like drug and alcohol abuse.
E) migrating to other countries.

Question 34

In June 2014, the federal government launched the _______, comprised of industry leaders from small, medium, and large-sized businesses as well as expert advisors on caregiving.

A) Canadian Employers for Caregivers Plan
B) Canadian Employers for the Elderly Program
C) Canadian Caregiving Policy
D) Canadian Care Initiative
E) Canadian Business Caregiving Plan

Question 35

"_______" refers to the assistance provided to an individual who requires help in completing his or her activities of daily living.

A) Caregiving
B) Continuous assistance
C) Homecare
D) Everyday homecare
E) Everyday assistance

Question 36

Two key demographic trends are re-shaping family life in fundamental ways: People are having fewer children and full-time employability is declining.

Question 37

Some adult children do not leave home until their parents are about to retire.

Question 38

Typical life course transitions involve home-leaving, sharing an apartment with friends, dating, living common-law, having children and becoming parents and eventually becoming grandparents, and then death.

Question 39

Unprecedented numbers of people living alone has increased, divorce rates have risen, and widowhood has been delayed until later in life.

Question 40

Today, families are smaller, fewer people ae marrying, more are childless, first-time parents are older, and people are living longer in general.

Question 41

According to the United Nations Development Programme the average life expectancy in Canada is 73.0 years.

Question 42

According to Statistics Canada (2017), over one-third of young adults aged 20-34 years live with their parents.

Question 43

The transition to parenthood has been delayed into the forties for many Canadians.

Question 44

"Seventy is the new fifty" is a contemporary mantra.

Question 45

Moss and her colleagues (1997) noted that the death of one's last parent is now more common when the adult child is him or herself a senior citizen.

Question 46

Co-longevity has resulted in an increase in the number of years spent in the empty nest phase of life - from 6.8 years for those born in 1860 to a projected 30.2 years for those born in 1960.

Question 47

Sibling ties and relationships are already noted as the longest family ties that most people will have. Such ties may last well into a person's nineties and beyond.

Question 48

Today, it is common to see couples celebrating a 70^th wedding anniversary.

Question 49

For Baby Boomers, we know that their immediate kin group will be smaller than that of their parents, and that they will have fewer children and grandchildren.

Question 50

Mid-life parents find it difficult (and many are unable) to provide financial and instrumental support to their co-resident children.

Question 51

The delay in home-leaving among young adults can be attributed to the longer-term trend towards the postponement of marriage.

Question 52

Young adults living in blended or stepfamilies are more likely to leave home earlier than those in single or two parent biological families.

Question 53

There is an increased likelihood that adult children will live at home if parents are divorced or if a parent is widowed.

Question 54

Research on the quality of intergenerational relationships in mid-life families has identified tension between co-resident parents and adult children.

Question 55

There are growing numbers of grandparents who share longer life spans with smaller numbers of grandchildren.

Question 56

In 2011, about one-third of Canadians aged 55 to 59 were divorced or separated.

Question 57

There is little evidence to suggest that exposure to the marital disruption of mid-life parents negatively affects the quality of parent-child relationships, children's ability to cope with challenging life events such as moving, or their overall optimism about marriage.

Question 58

Men initiate about 60 per cent of divorces after age 40.

Question 59

There is more economic insecurity for women than for men following widowhood.

Question 60

Men are more likely to remarry than women.

Question 61

In mid- and later-life families, the adaptation process for stepchildren is influenced by a number of factors, including children's life course stage at their parent's remarriage, their residential status, and the quality of the parent-child relationship prior to the remarriage.

Question 62

Flows of financial, instrumental, and emotional support to older parents from their working children has become more important than ever, given the little amount received from the government pension plan.

Question 63

Cutbacks to health care and social services over the past decade in Canada have precipitated an increased reliance on the family for care across generations.

Question 64

It is well recognized that most of the care provided to older people near the end of their lives is provided by nursing staff in hospital wards.

Question 65

Adult children frequently become engaged in assisting parents, especially where one is widowed, or divorced, or experiencing ongoing health challenges due to dementia or stroke.

Question 66

For the first time in Canadian history, it is estimated that Canadian adults will spend a longer time caring for their aging parents than they spent in raising their children.

Question 67

The responsibilities of care (for aging parents) continue to fall on women in mid- and later-life.

Question 68

As digital technologies become more normalized in the caregiving context, men are likely to take up more supportive roles.

Question 69

According to Statistics Canada (2017), by age 85, women will outnumber men by more than five to one.

Question 70

Homophobic attitudes of family and friends as well as healthcare and human service professionals are major barriers to providing care for chronically ill loved ones.
Short

Question 71

Explain why the age range of 45-64, previously used to define middle age, is no longer seen as valid.

Question 72

What is meant by the phrase "seventy is the new fifty"?

Question 73

Why is it taking longer for young adult children to leave the parental home to establish residential independence?

Question 74

Explain the following quote: "Co-residence violates the child's norms and expectations about adulthood and independence."

Question 75

How do boomerang children affect parents?

Question 76

Discuss the issues surrounding silver or gray divorce.

Question 77

Discuss the consequences of divorce on parent-child relationships.

Question 78

What is meant by the term "bi-directional flows"?

Question 79

What does intergenerational ambivalence refer to? Who tends to be most affected by it?

Question 80

Discuss the cultural preferences of multi-generational households within South Asian and Chinese immigrant families (Gee and Mitchell, 2003).