Indonesian Journal of Social Sciences Volume 14 No. 02, July-December 2022, page 93-103 93 DOI 10.20473/ijss.v14i2.38716 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial- ShareAlike 4.0 International License Socio-economic condition and mental anxieties among empty-nest rural elderly Karamat Ali 1 , Md. Siddiqur Rahman 2 , & Ety Rani 3 1 MSS student, University of Rajshahi Address: Dhaka Highway, Rajshahi 6205, Bangladesh 2 Professor, University of Rajshahi Address: Dhaka Highway, Rajshahi 6205, Bangladesh 3 Lecturer, Khulna University Address: Gollamari, Khulna, Bangladesh E-mail: etyranisocru2621@gmail.com Abstract The number of empty-nest elderly is increasing day by day. They are facing different kinds of problems. In this study, efforts have been made to investigate the socio-economic condition and mental anxieties among the empty-nest rural elderly. The method used in this research was the quantitative approach, using a survey and questionnaire methods. Data have been collected from 32 empty-nest elderly both males and females aged 60 and above. In this study, researchers have selected three villages in Shailkupa Upazila under the district of Jhenaidah in the division of Khulna, Bangladesh. Three villages are- Ananto Badalsho, Badalsho, and Aushia. Data were collected using informed consent from June 14, 2017 to June 29, 2017. In this study, the highest of the respondents’ socio-economic conditions are satisfactory. All of the respondents feel lonely. A majority of the respondents suffer from mental anxieties. The main causes of their mental anxieties are their children live far from them and they have serious health problems. Since their children live so far from them, their children cannot look after them during their illness. This time they depend on either neighbors or others. Keywords: empty-nest; mental anxieties; rural elderly; socio-economic condition Article History Received: September 1, 2022 Accepted: October 20, 2022 Cite this as: Ali K, Rahman MS, & Rani E (2022) Socio-economic condition and mental anxieties among empty-nest rural elderly. Indonesian Journal of Social Sciences 14 (2):93-103. DOI 10.20473/ijss.v14i2.38716. Introduction The issue of aging has been recognized as a major social problem in a global society. In developed countries, the elderly face several social problems such as high rates of physical illness, emotional difficulties, low status, and lack of meaningful roles in society. Similarly, in developing countries like Bangladesh, the elderly also faces serious problems such as mental anxiety, social, economic, and health-related problems. Rani and Imtiaz (2022) studied in the Naogaon district and showed that the socio-economic condition of the rural elderly was not satisfactory. A majority of the respondents’ yearly family income was less than 589 USD. Decker (1980:209) said, “There is a natural movement of individuals from the family of orientation to the family of procreation and this movement represents the beginning of a new generation.” The aged population is defined in this paper as defined by the Bangladesh Association of Gerontology (2003) -- “the group of the population who belong to the age group of 60 years or more.” McNicoll (2002) studied that since 1950 the number of old age (60+) population has trebled in 50 years, and it is anticipated to treble again by 2050. In 2017, the population of Bangladesh was 165 million but in 2050 it will be 202 million (United Nations 2017).