Study Finds Daughters Provide Twice as Much Care for Aging Parents Than Sons

Women step up to provide care for their aging parents more than twice as often as men, a new study has found.

The new research found that in families with children of both sexes, the gender of the child is the single biggest factor in determining who will provide care for the aging parent: Daughters will increase the time they spend with an elderly parent to compensate for sons who reduce theirs, effectively ceding the responsibility to their sisters.

By foisting most of their care-giving duties onto women, men also shift the physical and mental stress of providing care, as well as the financial burden, the study’s author said.

The findings – which are to be presented Tuesday at a meeting of the American Sociological Association in San Francisco – suggest that traditional gender roles are the most telling factor in providing care for the elderly. How much care women provide for an aging parent is often shaped by competing concerns such as their jobs or children. Men, in contrast, base their care for an aging parent on whether a sister or the parent’s spouse can handle those responsibilities.

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Daughters provide twice as much care for aging parents than sons do, study finds