MOSAIC Conference, Budapest, Sept. 2012

Julia Jennings

California Institute of Technology

Living Arrangements of the Elderly in Late 19th Century Orkney,

Scotland: Poverty And Proximity Of Kin

Orkney, Scotland

Household positionHead/wife, parent, other

CoresidencePerspective of elderly

Immigrant statusNot born on island of residence

Compound Household

Elderly, coresidence, & proximity of Kin

South Ronaldsay, c. 1900, Tom Kent, Orkney Photo Archive

At least 2 dwellingsSingle set of

farming outbuildings

Shared gardenOccupied by kin

Compound Households

Dwelling

DwellingDwelling

Barn & Kiln

Stable

Pig House Byre Smithy

Different from England

“Deserving poor”Outdoor reliefLocal Kirk (Church)

SessionsNo institutions in

North Orkney

Poor Law in Scotland

Spinners, Holm, c. 1890, Orkney Image Library

Elderly and poverty

Widowed* (0.63)Unmarried* (1.07)

Head in Ag (-2.06)

N=66, 3.4% of males aged 60+

Significant Predictors of Pauper status, Logistic Regression (coef.)

Widowed* (1.73)Unmarried* (3.23)Immigrant (-0.69)Compound HH (0.41)Head in Ag (-1.32)

N=300, 12.6% of females aged 60+

Females Males

Not shown: controls for age, census year*married is reference category

1851 1901

Age-sex Structure

Population Decline

Coresidence by census year, proportion of Females

Coresidence by Census Year, proportion of Males

Proportion coresiding

Coresidence of females, logistic regression

Coresidence of Males, logistic regression

Stability over timeCompound HH

arrangements for solitary and impoverished

Residence patterns of paupers distinct from other elderly

Living with children and other kin associated with farming

Findings

Turnip singling, c. 1900 Tom Kent, Orkney Photo Archives

Who is supporting who?

Disabled? How much relief?

Best way to use dataLinked death recordsLinked census recordsSpatial context

Remaining questions, Future work

Aikerness, Westray, 2008

Household Position