| Abstract: | An examination of the housing decisions of a group of elderly (n= 43) was undertaken to establish the nature of information used throughout the life course and to determine the degree of success of a variety of sources of information in promoting housing satisfaction. A purposive sample of elderly men and women in different tenure groups and house types, from a variety of socioeconomic backgrounds and encompassing ‘young old’ as well as ‘old old’ were interviewed to establish patterns of formal and informal information flow and to determine, as far as is possible, whether information was actively or passively acquired. As would be perhaps expected, elderly owner occupiers, and particularly those from socioeconomic groups I, II and IIIN had used, and continue to use, formal sources of information to a far greater extent than did elderly tenants who had been in manual occupations, who preferred (and had always preferred) to look to family and friends to satisfy their housing information needs. Written information on housing choices appeared to be of limited value to most elderly, although it may be the case that leaflets and booklets are inappropriate sources of housing information for all age groups, not simply the elderly. |
