Couples' provision of informal care for parents and parents-in-law: far from sharing equally?

Henz, Ursula

doi:10.1017/s0144686x08008155

Cited by 47 publications

(60 citation statements)

References 49 publications

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“…Previous research suggests that intergenerational support is likely to be influenced by consanguinity and long-term commitments based on past reciprocities [38] , but it is also known that married daughters and, perhaps to a lesser extent, married sons are also involved in providing support for their parents-in-laws [39] . Information on the extent of involvement that husbands and wives have with their parents-in-law would make a more refined assessment of the association between help given and received and couples' marital relationship.…”

Section: Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Middle-Aged Couples’ Exchanges of Support with Aging Parents: Patterns and Association with Marital Satisfaction

et al. 2011

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We examined the context of intergenerational support exchanges with aging parents and its association with middle-aged couples’ marital satisfaction. A sample of 197 middle-aged couples reported support they gave to and received from their parents (n = 440). Results indicated that couples provided more total support to and received more from their parents as a function of number of living parents, but the amount of support each parent received (‘parent-adjusted support’) was lower when there were more living parents. The amount of support given to and received from parents had no association with the couple’s marital satisfaction, but discrepancies in support given to and received from parents did have a significant association with marital satisfaction. Husbands who gave more support to their living parent(s) than their wives reported lower marital satisfaction. A similar effect on marital satisfaction was found for wives who gave more support to their living parents than their husbands. These findings contrast with caregiving studies where amount of support affected marital satisfaction and suggest that inequalities in involvement with parents may be a critical dimension in marriages of midlife adults.

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Section: Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Middle-Aged Couples’ Exchanges of Support with Aging Parents: Patterns and Association with Marital Satisfaction

et al. 2011

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“…Fromme et al (2005) write that studies tend to make comparisons between men's and women's caregiving, using men's caregiving experience to show the challenges women face, and minimizing the needs of men. It is also worth noting that Henz (2009) argues that men's caring has been under-represented in many studies because research on family caregiving captures only a narrow range of care activities. This is why studies with a wider definition of caring activities (e.g.…”

Section: Caregiving Men In Previous Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Men do care! : A gender-aware and masculinity-informed contribution to caregiving scholarship

Wallroth

2016

Linköping Studies in Arts and Sciences

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In caregiving literature, it is often the female gender that has been the focus of attention, and in particular women's unpaid labor. Studies also tend to make comparisons between men's and women's caregiving, using men's caregiving experiences to show not only that women face greater burdens, but also that men's needs can be disregarded. This means that while gender analyses are not uncommon in the caregiving literature, gender tends to be equated with womanhood. The research problem that this dissertation addresses is therefore the gender bias that characterizes caregiving scholarship at present and the fact that this bias is impeding us from moving the debates on care and caregiving forward. The aim of the dissertation is twofold. Firstly, it attempts to contribute to the rectification of the gender bias in question by focusing on men's caregiving and answering the following research questions: What motivates men to provide care for their elderly parents? How do adult sons experience caregiving? What do adult sons think that care and caregiving are, i.e. what are their perspectives on care? Secondly, this dissertation also aims to explore whether a gender-aware and masculinity-informed perspective can be used to enhance our understanding of caregiving. Thus, through a phenomenological analysis of interviews with 19 caregiving adult sons and sons-in-law, this dissertation discusses how motives, experiences and perspectives, which have so far been interpreted as unique to women, are also matters that men talk about and consider important in caregiving. The dissertation argues therefore that much could be gained if we were to rectify the gender bias that characterizes the literature on family caregiving and explore caregiving men in the genderaware and masculinity-informed way that is lacking in this literature at present. Inspired by the debate within studies of masculinity, the dissertation argues that within the debate on care there is a hegemony of care which has so far tended to exclude men's perspectives on caregiving because literature on family caregiving has regarded women as the ideal caregivers. This dissertation shows that a gender-aware and masculinity-informed perspective on care can increase our understanding of family caregiving and contribute to the rectification of the gender bias that care research suffers from. Against this backdrop, it is proposed that caregiving men should not solely be regarded as empirically interesting. This is because they are an unexploited and theoretically profuse source of information about caregiving.

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“…A factor not considered in this analyses concerns how the sex of the caregiver affects sharing of caregiver roles among married couples (cf. Henz, 2009).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Caregiving for Parents and In-Laws: Commonalities and Differences

Strauss

2013

Journal of Gerontological Social Work

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This study examined support, stress, and well-being between adults who provide care for an aging and disabled parent and those who care for an aging and disabled parent-in-law. The study utilized a sample of individuals caring for a parent (n = 77), individuals caring for an in-law (n = 26) and a comparison group of noncaregivers (n = 1,939) from the Midlife Development in the United States study. In-law caregivers provided more financial assistance but adult child caregivers provided more emotional support and unpaid work. Adult child caregivers reported poorer mental health and family strain; in-law caregivers reported more spouse support and less family strain.

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Couples' provision of informal care for parents and parents-in-law: far from sharing equally?

Cited by 47 publications

References 49 publications

Middle-Aged Couples’ Exchanges of Support with Aging Parents: Patterns and Association with Marital Satisfaction

Middle-Aged Couples’ Exchanges of Support with Aging Parents: Patterns and Association with Marital Satisfaction

Men do care! : A gender-aware and masculinity-informed contribution to caregiving scholarship

Caregiving for Parents and In-Laws: Commonalities and Differences

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