What do older adult women enjoy about living alone? Although many mention the
value of independence, many participants also mention what could be considered small
pleasures: having control of the remote and TV, being able to eat when one wants, having
the bed to one’s self, and not having to cook. In fact, several women confided that widowhood
brought the revelation that after 40 years of cooking, they really didn’t like to cook
at all! Of course, other women may miss having loved ones for which to cook. What do
older adult women dislike about living alone? More than half of the participants cited
having no one to share day-to-day experiences with, or lack of companionship. Although
most were not significantly lonely overall, this implies that they do sometimes experience
aspects of loneliness.Women also mentioned having no one to help with housework
and home maintenance as well as fear of falling as disadvantages of living alone. Perhaps
these responses reflect the participants’ fear of having to leave their home because they
cannot keep up with home tasks or are unable to maintain physical safety. Previous research
(e.g., Letvak, 1997; Swenson, 1998) has suggested the importance and value of
maintaining one’s home environment for similar women.