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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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Spousal caregiving in late midlife versus older ages
— implications of work and family obligations | | Author(s) | Julie C Lima, Susan M Allen, Frances Goldscheider |
| Journal title | Journals of Gerontology: Series B, Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, vol 63B, no 4, July 2008 |
| Pages | pp S229-S238 |
| Source | http://www.geron.org |
| Keywords | Spouses as carers ; Employment ; Family care ; Middle aged ; Age groups [elderly] ; Comparison ; United States of America. |
| Annotation | This study examined life-stage differences in the provision of care to spouses with functional impairment. Participants were 1,218 married adults aged 52 and older from the 2000 wave of the US Health and Retirement Study (HRS) who received impairment-related help with at least one activity of daily living (ADL). The authors examined the differential likelihood that spouses served as primary caregiver and the hours of care provided by spousal primary caregivers by life stage. It was found that late middle-aged care recipients were more likely than their older counterparts to receive the majority of their care from their spouse but received fewer hours of spousal care, mostly when spouses worked full time. Competing demands of caring for children or parents did not affect the amount of care provided by a spouse. Late middle-aged adults with functional limitations are more likely than older groups to be married and cared for primarily by spouses; however, they may be particularly vulnerable to unmet need for care. As the baby boomer generation ages, retirement ages increase, and federal safety nets weaken, people with health problems at older ages may soon find themselves in the same caregiving predicament as those in late middle age. (KJ/RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-091210215 A |
| Classmark | P6:SN: WJ: P6:SJ: SE: BB: 48: 7T |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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