By 2050, older adults will outnumber adolescents and young people worldwide, creating significant challenges for health and social care systems. With nearly three-quarters of care for US adults aged 65 and older provided informally by family and friends, unmarried and widowed older adults face heightened risks of unmet needs, hospitalization, and mortality. While neighborhood cohesion and digital technologies may help, evidence remains mixed on their effectiveness in addressing these risks.

This article examines the association of family geographic proximity with probabilities of older adults who do not live with a spouse receiving family, unpaid non-family, and paid care.