PARENTAL CAREGIVING BY ADULT WOMEN - A DEMOGRAPHIC PERSPECTIVE

Daughters are a traditional source of assistance in the care of their elderly parents Past studies of caregiving have failed to exploit the information available in cross-sectional surveys to examine changes in caregiving prevalence with age. In this research, the methodological techniques of demography are used to examine the risk and practice of parental care over the life of adult women. The analyses reveal that p arental caregiving is relatively rare at any point in time; however, a mong older women with a surviving parent, parental caregiving is commo n. Over one half of adult women with a surviving parent can expect to provide care to that parent at some point in the future. Lengthening l ife expectancies are likely to increase both the prevalence of caregiv ing and the ages at which it occurs