This advanced textbook covers issues of family ties and aging broadly, the goal being to provide an integrated and thorough representation of what we know from the current research. Whereas books on families and aging have traditionally focused on ties to a spouse and to children and grandchildren, Family Ties & Aging is more extensive and more reflective of contemporary society. The text includes groups and relationships that typically receive short shrift, exploring such neglected populations as single, divorced, and childless older people and their family relationships, as well as sibling relationships among the elderly, live-in partnerships not formalized by marriage, and the kinds of family ties forged by gay and lesbian persons over the life course. The book weaves the vast range of information we now have about the many facets of family relationships and aging into a critical, comprehensive, and integrated whole.