Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the characteristics of personal networks and social support of elderly women in an underpopulated mountain village in Okayama Prefecture. A questionnaire survey was conducted in 2006 to all the women in the village aged between 65 and 79. The data was compared with those of elderly women in Okayama City. The analysis of the data revealed the following findings: (1) Elderly women in the village had more kinship and neighbourhood relationships than elderly women in the city.
Elderly women in both areas had very few workmate relationships. (2) Elderly women in the village had more kinship relationships in their neighbourhood area and in the area more than 20 kilometres from its research area within Okayama Prefecture than elderly women in the city. (3) Elderly women in the village had personal relationships of larger size than elderly women in the city. (4) While more elderly women in the village could receive social support from kin and neighbours than elderly women in the city, the latter could get social support from friends more than the former. More elderly women in the village could receive social support from anybody in the situations considered than elderly women in the city. This is because of the fact that near the village there is a middle-sized city, where many children of elderly women of the village reside.
