JSIT22-05: Family Caregiving at Older Ages: Implications for Adult Children by Race and Ethnicity

Abstract

As the demography ages, the demand for family care is expected to rise rapidly in the United States. Due to lower access to quality formal care and differences in norms and traditions, minority populations rely more heavily on family care than non-minority populations do. Despite the growing diversity in the demography of the older population and their family caregivers, we know very little about the racial and ethnic differences in family care patterns over time and their impact on the economic outcomes of caregivers. My study intends to fill this gap in two parts. First, using the 1998–2019 Health and Retirement Study (HRS), I provide a descriptive analysis documenting the disability and family care trajectories of elderly individuals aged 50 and over. Second, I examine the effect of family care on employment for adult children of elderly individuals across racial and ethnic groups. I uncover that non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic elderly individuals have higher levels of disability and rely more on family care provision over their lifespans, compared to non-Hispanic Whites. Family care lowers adult children’s employment by 5 to 9 percentage points depending on care type. This effect is 3.3 to 8.4 percentage points for non-Hispanic Whites and 11 to 13 percentage points for non-Hispanic Blacks. These effects are stronger for adult children with non-married parents and those aged less than 40.