Changes in Residential Arrangements in Old Age in Colombia (Censuses 2005 and 2018)

This article describes the changes observed, between 2005 and 2018, in the household sizes of people over 60 in Colombia, as well as the main sociodemographic, geographic and economic characteristics of those who compose them. Likewise, one-person households in two departments of the country are compared to identify the social gaps that determine the same type of residence. The data source used is the Colombian Population and Housing Censuses of 2005 and 2018. The changes in the residential arrangements of the elderly and their characteristics are described, and the differences between the one-person households in Boyacá and Bogotá are analyzed. This study confirms the growth trend of small households in the advanced stages of life, as a new form of organization of domestic life, and identifies social inequalities that characterize single-person households, and increase the risk of deterioration in the quality of life in old age.