From: Does owning a pet protect older people against loneliness?
 | Wave 0 (2001) | Wave 2 (2004) | Wave 5 (2010) | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | All | Men | Women | All | Men | Women | All | Men | Women |
Total N | 2,141 | 946 | 1,195 | 5,210 | 2,272 | 2,938 | 5,210 | 2,272 | 2,938 |
Mean age | 61.4 | 60.9 | 61.8 | 65.0 | 64.6 | 65.3 | 71.2 | 70.7 | 71.6 |
Pet ownership 3 | |||||||||
  Yes (%) | 41.1% | 41.7% | 40.7 | NA | NA | NA | 29.2% | 29.8% | 28.6% |
Ownership of house pet: | |||||||||
  Dog (%)1 | 19.8% | 20.3% | 19.3% | NA | NA | NA | 15.2% | 15.6% | 14.9% |
  Cat (%)1 | 21.7% | 21.7% | 21.7% | NA | NA | NA | 13.3% | 13.8% | 12.9% |
  Bird (%)1 | 3.6% | 3.7% | 3.6% | NA | NA | NA | 1.8% | 1.7% | 1.9% |
  Other furry pet (%)1 | 2.3% | 2.3% | 2.3% | NA | NA | NA | 0.8% | 1.0% | 0.6% |
  Other pet (%)1 | 3.8% | 4.8% | 3.1% | NA | NA | NA | 2.9% | 3.4% | 2.5% |
Loneliness 3 | |||||||||
  Yes (%) | NA | NA | NA | 18.1% | 14.1% | 21.3% | 20.6% | 16.3% | 23.9% |
Marital status | |||||||||
  Single/divorced/separated/widowed (%) | 31.6% | 23.8% | 37.9% | 32.6% | 22.4% | 40.5% | 36.7% | 24.7% | 46.0% |
Parenthood | |||||||||
  Yes | NA | NA | NA | 87.8% | 87.2% | 88.2% | 87.9% | 87.3% | 88.4% |
Social participation 3 | |||||||||
  Yes | NA | NA | NA | 22.6% | 19.9% | 24.5% | 26.6% | 25.1% | 27.8% |
Close personal relationships 3 | |||||||||
  Yes | NA | NA | NA | 99.8% | 99.8% | 99.9% | 99.7% | 99.6% | 99.7% |
Working status 3 | |||||||||
  Working (%) | 46.2% | 52.9% | 41.0% | 33.7% | 40.3% | 28.6% | 18.6% | 24.1% | 14.4% |
Social class | |||||||||
  Managerial/professional | 37.1% | 45.0% | 30.7% | 34.3% | 42.8% | 27.6% | 32.6% | 40.4% | 26.4% |
  Intermediate | 24.3% | 18.4% | 29.1% | 25.9% | 20.0% | 30.5% | 27.1% | 21.2% | 31.8% |
  Routine/manual | 38.6% | 36.6% | 40.3% | 39.9% | 37.3% | 41.9% | 40.3% | 38.4% | 41.8% |
Household income | |||||||||
  1Q (low) | NA | NA | NA | 16.5 | 10.9 | 20.8 | 18.6 | 14.4 | 21.8 |
  2Q | NA | NA | NA | 17.0 | 15.3 | 18.2 | 21.4 | 20.3 | 22.2 |
  3Q | NA | NA | NA | 19.4 | 19.8 | 19.1 | 21.3 | 21.1 | 21.5 |
  4Q | NA | NA | NA | 21.0 | 23.2 | 19.3 | 18.7 | 21.1 | 17.0 |
  5Q (high) | NA | NA | NA | 24.6 | 29.3 | 21.0 | 17.3 | 20.9 | 14.6 |
Self-rated health 2,3 | |||||||||
  Poor | 6.7% | 7.5% | 6.0% | 23.0% | 21.5% | 24.1% | 28.0% | 26.7% | 29.0% |
Long standing illness | |||||||||
  Yes – limiting | 32.2% | 30.8% | 33.4% | 32.0% | 28.8% | 34.4% | 38.6% | 35.8% | 40.7% |
Immobility 3 | |||||||||
  Some difficulty/much difficulty/unable to do test | 11.0% | 11.3% | 10.8% | 23.5% | 19.7% | 26.4% | 35.7% | 30.7% | 39.6% |
Hearing difficulties 3 | |||||||||
  Yes | 6.7% | 8.5% | 5.3% | 4.2% | 5.7% | 3.1% | 5.6% | 7.1% | 4.5% |
Seeing difficulties 3 | |||||||||
  Yes | 3.4% | 3.5% | 3.3 | 2.8% | 2.2% | 3.3% | 4.3% | 3.0% | 5.2% |