The purpose of this study was to extend our knowledge and appreciation
of the dimensions of ethnic minority aging by undertaking an exploratory analysis
of the older West Indian migrant population in the United States. The study used
census and original field survey data to profile the older West Indian migrant
population in the state of Connecticut, a region with one of the oldest West Indian
communities in the United States. It analyzed the demographic and socioeconomic
characteristics and the correlates of the living arrangements of 107
community dwelling women, aged 55 years and older, from ten countries in the
English-speaking Caribbean who were resident in the Greater Hartford region of
Connecticut.
The most prevalent household type was that in which the older West
Indian migrant woman lived in a shared household with no spouse present.
Women living alone constituted less than 20% of the study sample. Family need
and monthly income emerged as respectively decreasing and increasing the
likelihood of respondents living in a separate household. Homeownership proved
to be the only significant correlate of the likelihood of the older woman being
head of the shared household.