Competing Demands from Aging Parents and Adult Children in Two Cohorts of American Women

Abstract

In late middle age, individuals may face competing demands on their time and financial resources from elderly parents and young adult children. This study uses the Panel Study of Income Dynamics to examine changes over time in the probability of having children and living parents for women age 45 to 64. We compare two cohorts: those born in the 1920s and 1930s and those born in the 1940s and 1950s. We find that there has been a dramatic increase in the probability of having children and living parents and that this increase has been driven mainly by changes in life expectancy of the parent generation. We further examine transfers of money and co-residence for women in the later cohort. We find that while women may not give to parents and children concurrently, approximately thirty percent of them have provided support to both parents and children at some point in the past.

The Family Safety Net of Black and White Multigenerational Families

“…In contrast, gains in life expectancy have increased the overlap in “shared lives,” contributing to the growth of multigenerational families (Bengtson ). The total years of adult life lived with at least one surviving parent has been steadily increasing (Watkins, Menken, and Bongaarts ), and the fraction of individuals with both living parents and children has also increased (Wiemers and Bianchi ). From 1960 to 2000, the proportion of individuals with at least one grandparent alive at age 30 rose from 51 percent to 76 percent, and is projected to be 82 percent by 2020 (Uhlenberg ; Uhlenberg ).…”

Caught in the middle in mid-life: provision of care across multiple generations

“…With improving life expectancy, increasing female employment and changing family formation, baby-boomers entering mid- and later life face the prospect of juggling multiple roles, combining paid work with family obligations (Evandrou and Glaser, 2004; Fingerman et al , 2012). Increasing survival into older ages allows more individuals to share their mid-life with older generations, who may be in need of support (Wiemers and Bianchi, 2015), whilst postponement of childbirth and delays in transition into independence mean that more individuals in mid-life have continuing commitments to their (adult) children (Stone et al , 2014). Over the past decade, the number of people at risk of simultaneously providing care for children and parents, the so-called ‘sandwich generation’, has grown (Rubin and White-Means, 2009; Friedman et al , 2015).…”

Factors Associated With Support Provided by Middle‐Aged Children to Their Parents

“…For adult children, these obligations to provide care for their parents are often coupled with providing support to their own young adult children (Birditt, Hartnett, Fingerman, Zarit, & Antonucci, ; Fingerman, Kim, Tennant, Birditt, & Zarit, ). Most middle‐aged adults are also working and active in other areas of their life (Wiemers & Bianchi, ). Providing support and care for parents is associated with biological stress to the body and increased negative affect (Bangerter et al, ; Kim et al, ).…”

“…Already, approximately 34.2 million Americans provide unpaid care to adults over 50 years of age, and almost half of these caregivers' report caring for a parent (National Alliance for Caregiving & American Association of Retired Persons, ). As life expectancy increases, middle‐aged children (about 45 to 65 years of age; hereafter referred to as adult children ) will likely spend more years providing support to the increasing number of aging parents (hereafter referred to as parents ) compared with previous generations (Wiemers & Bianchi, ). As part of this support, adult children often help make decisions regarding their parents' health care and living situations (e.g., hiring a home care aide, approving medical procedures, or moving to an assisted living facility).…”