It is important to understand how family and other companions affects older adults’ everyday behavior since they are in their last stage of life cycle and desired to be companied. Many feminist studies indicate that women are generally more vulnerable than men. However, as age rises, this disadvantage may be reduced according to different context. This study focused on the spatiotemporal behavior of older adults and, using time-geographical theory and methods, investigated the impact of coupling constraints on both older women and men in their everyday lives. The case cities were Tianjin, China and Ryugasaki, Japan. The survey was conducted on a face-to-face basis in Tianjin, China while in Ryugasaki it was conducted through mail and telephone interview. We obtained 218 valid questionnaires and 6,239 records of activities in Tianjin, 85 questionnaires and 1,702 records of activities in Ryugasaki. The main results were as follows. 1) type of activities, types of places, travel distance and transportation modes tended to be different under the effect of composition and size of companions; 2) older women have more advantages in mobility compared with older men which is contrary to the results of some other related studies; 3) the impact of modern technology on the daily life of older adults should not be neglected; 4) the social and cultural contexts of China and Japan contributes a lot to the different features of older adults’ behavior.

Authors:
Yaqian Mao, University of Tsukuba, Japan
Tomoko Kubo, University of Tsukuba, Japan

About the Presenter(s)
Ms Yaqian Mao is a University Doctoral Student at University of Tsukuba in Japan

See this presentation on the full schedule – Sunday Schedule

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