Factors Influencing Parental Caregiving by Adult Women

Abstract

This article examines a variety of demographic and structural characteristics that influence the provision of care to elderly parents by adult daughters. In particular, variations in these characteristics by the duration and intensity of care provision are examined. Age, education, and marital status are found to be the most important individual characteristics influencing the provision of care. Parental age, the number of living parents, and the proximity of parents and daughters are also important. However, when caregivers are examined by the duration and intensity of their care, only parental age is consistently related to care. Geographic proximity does not appear significant for women who are providing short, intense periods of care, implying that "crisis" care is undertaken by women despite their distance from parents. This researchhighlights the importance of distinguishing among different types of caregiving.

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