Impact of Social Class on Social Isolation Among Single Elderly Living Alone in Chandigarh

Abstract

The paper focused upon the impact of social class on social isolation among single elderly persons that are living alone. The main objectives of the study were to find out the association between age and social isolation and to highlight the impact of social class on social isolation among single elderly living alone in the society. An empirical study was done through the non-probability sampling and180 single elderly were selected with the help of the snowball method. Data was collected through the interview schedule. With the help of quartile social class was calculated and social isolation was measured on five-point Likert Scale. Further Chi-square test was applied to find out the association between social class and social location, age and social isolation. It was found that many of the elderly were facing a moderate level of social isolation followed by complete isolation. A significant association was found between social isolation and the social class of the respondents. Statistically no significant relation was found between social isolation and the age of the respondents.