Aging in place with disabled and non-disabled children: widowed mothers aged 80 + in an East Asian Familialist Welfare Context

The ageing-in-place experiences of widowed mothers caring for adult children with intellectual disabilities remain underexplored in gerontology and long-term care research. This study compares the experiences of widowed mothers aged 80 and over in Taiwan, an East Asian context in which filial piety continues to shape housing and care arrangements, among those with and without adult children with intellectual disabilities. Drawing on Clapham's Housing Pathways framework-personal control, identity, social support, and inequality-we analyse semi-structured interviews with 24 widowed mothers (17 with and 7 without adult children with intellectual disabilities) using an abductive thematic approach. Across both groups, ageing in place was strongly preferred, but this preference carried different meanings. For mothers of children with intellectual disabilities, remaining at home was tied to long-term co-residential caregiving, reciprocal interdependence, and concern for their children's future. For mothers with non-disabled children, it was more closely associated with maintaining independence, supported by family and, in some cases, migrant care workers. Homeownership and community ties fostered stability and belonging, while inequality shaped the extent to which ageing in place could be sustained. These findings show that later-life housing pathways are shaped not only by personal preference but also by caregiving histories, gendered family relations, and culturally embedded expectations of care. The study highlights the need for policies that better support older women with diverse care trajectories in East Asian familialist welfare contexts.