Top

Published in:

01-03-2012 | Original Investigation

Gendered support to older parents: do welfare states matter?

Authors: Tina Schmid, Martina Brandt, Klaus Haberkern

Published in: European Journal of Ageing | Issue 1/2012

Abstract

The aim of this study is to examine the association of welfare state policies and the gendered organisation of intergenerational support (instrumental help and personal care) to older parents. The study distinguishes between support to older parents provided at least weekly, i.e. time-intensive and often burdening support, and supplemental sporadic support. Three policy instruments were expected to be associated with daughters’ and sons’ support or gender inequality in intergenerational support respectively: (1) professional social services, (2) cash-for-care payments and (3) legal obligations to provide or co-finance care for parents. The analyses based on the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe showed that daughters provided somewhat more sporadic and much more intensive support than sons throughout Europe. While about half of all children who sporadically supported a parent were men, this applied to only one out of four children who provided intensive support. Logistic multilevel models revealed that legal obligations were positively associated with daughters’ likelihood of giving intensive support to parents but did not affect the likelihood of sons doing so. Legal obligations thus stimulate support in a gender-specific way. Both legal obligations and cash-for-care schemes were also accompanied by a more unequal distribution of involvement in intensive support at the expense of women. Social services, in contrast, were linked to a lower involvement of daughters in intensive support. In sum, the results suggest that welfare states can both preserve or reduce gender inequality in intergenerational support depending on specific arrangements.

It should be mentioned that welfare state policies are not only shaped by cultural norms but also shape them. For a discussion of the complex issue of the interrelation between welfare states and culture, see for example Pfau-Effinger (2005) and van Oorschot et al. (2008).

Leitner (2003) has classified the Netherlands as an implicitly familialistic country. Due to its relatively generous service provision combined with a cash-for-care scheme (‘Persoongeboden budget’), other authors, however, have categorised it as what Leitner has labelled an optionally familialistic care system (Anttonen and Sipilä 1996; Bettio and Plantenga 2004; Haberkern and Szydlik 2010; Timonen et al. 2006).

Only 0.5% (n = 199) of the respondents live in the same household with a parent. They were only asked whether they provided personal care to that parent regularly during the last year. Detailed information about the amount of time spent on providing care was not recorded. Moreover, these respondents were not asked about other forms of support to their co-resident parent, such as practical help. Due to the sparse information as well as the small number of observations, we restrict the sample to respondents not living in the same household with their parents.

We do not account for geographical proximity, as it is very likely to be a result of different family regimes itself: When family obligations are high and legally reinforced, while the provision of state assistance is low, children are not able to move far from their parents or might even move back in case of frailty and need.

Anttonen A, Sipilä J (1996) European social care services: is it possible to identify models? J Eur Soc Pol 6(2):87–100CrossRef

Arber S, Ginn J (1991) Gender and later life. A sociological analysis of resources and constraints. Sage, London

Arksey H, Glendinning C (2008) Combining work and care: carers decision-making in the context of competing policy pressures. Soc Policy Admin 42:1–18

Berecki-Gisolf J, Lucke J, Hockey R, Dobson A (2008) Transitions into informal caregiving and out of paid employment of women in their 50s. Soc Sci Med 67:122–127CrossRef

Bettio F, Plantenga J (2004) Comparing care regimes in Europe. Fem Econ 10(1):85–113CrossRef

Blackmann T (2000) Defining responsibility for care: approaches to the care of older people in six European countries. Int J Soc Welf 9:181–190CrossRef

Brandt M (2009) Hilfe zwischen Generationen. Ein europäischer Vergleich. VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, Wiesbaden

Brandt M, Haberkern K, Szydlik M (2009) Intergenerational help and care in Europe. Eur Sociol Rev 25(5):585–601CrossRef

Campbell LD, Martin-Matthews A (2003) The gendered nature of men’s filial care. J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci 58B(6):350–358CrossRef

Chesley N, Poppie K (2009) Assisting parents and in-laws: gender, type of assistance, and couple’s employment. J Marriage Fam 71:247–262CrossRef

Crespo L (2006) Caring for parents and employment status of European mid-life women. CEMFI Working Paper

Daly M, Lewis J (2000) The concept of social care and the analysis of contemporary welfare states. Brit J Sociol 51:281–298CrossRef

Etters L, Goodall D, Harrison BE (2008) Caregiver burden among dementia patient caregivers: a review of the literature. J Am Acad Nurse Pract 20:423–428CrossRef

Gerstel N, Gallagher SK (2001) Men’s caregiving. Gender and the contingent character of care. Gender Soc 15(2):197–217CrossRef

Haberkern K, Szydlik M (2010) State care provision, societal opinion and children’s care of older parents in 11 European countries. Ageing Soc 30(2):299–323CrossRef

Huber M, Rodrigues R, Hoffmann F, Gasior K, Marin B (2009) Facts and figures on long-term care. Europe and North America. European Centre for Social Welfare and Research, Vienna

Igel C, Brandt M, Haberkern K, Szydlik M (2009) Specialization between family and state—intergenerational time transfers in Western Europe. J Comp Fam Stud 40(2):203–226

Jacobzone S, Jenson J (2000) Care allowances for the frail elderly and their impact on women care-givers. OECD Labour Market and Social Policy Occasional Papers No. 41, OECD, Paris

Kalmijn M, Saraceno M (2008) A comparative perspective on intergenerational support. Responsiveness to parental needs in individualistic and familialistic countries. Eur Soc 10:479–508CrossRef

Keck W (2008) The relationship between children and their frail elderly parents in different care regimes. In: Saraceno C (ed) Families, ageing and social policy: intergenerational solidarity in European welfare states. Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, pp 147–169

Kerbo HR (2006) Social stratification and inequality. Class conflict in historical, comparative, and global perspective, 6th edn. McGraw-Hill, New York

Korpi W (2000) Faces of inequality: gender, class, and patterns of inequalities in different types of welfare states. Soc Pol 7(2):127–191

Lee GL, Dwyer JW, Coward RT (1993) Gender differences in parent care: demographic factors and same-gender preferences. J Gerontol 48:9–16

Leitner S (2003) Varieties of familialism: the caring function of the family in comparative perspective. Eur Soc 5(4):353CrossRef

Lilly MB, Laporte A, Coyte PC (2007) Labor market work and home care’s unpaid caregivers: a systematic review of labor force participation rates, predictors of labor market withdrawal, and hours of work. Milbank Q 85(4):641–690CrossRef

Mandel H, Shalev M (2009) How welfare states shape the gender pay gap: a theoretical and comparative analysis. Soc Forces 87:1873–1911CrossRef

Martin-Matthews A, Campbell LD (1995) Gender roles, employment and informal care. In: Arber S, Ginn J (eds) Connecting gender and ageing: a sociological approach. Open University Press, Buckingham, pp 129–143

Matthews SH, Rosner TT (1988) Shared filial responsibility: the family as the primary caregiver. J Marriage Fam 50(1):185–195CrossRef

Mestheneos E, Triantafillou J (2005) Services for supporting family carers of elderly people in Europe. Characteristics, coverage and usage. The EUROFAMCARE Consortium, Hamburg

Miller B, Cafasso L (1992) Gender differences in caregiving: fact or artifact? Gerontologist 32:498–507CrossRef

Motel-Klingebiel A, Tesch-Römer C, von Kondratowitz HJ (2005) Welfare states do not crowd out the family: evidence for mixed responsibility from comparative analyses. Ageing Soc 25:863–882CrossRef

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) (2005) Long-term care for older people. OECD, Paris

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) (2010a) Social expenditure database. http://www.oecd.org/els/social/expenditure. Accessed 10 Jan 2010

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) (2010b) Annual labour force statistics. http://stats.oecd.org. Accessed 10 Jan 2010

Pfau-Effinger B (2005) Culture and welfare state policies: reflections on a complex interrelation. J Soc Pol 1:3–20CrossRef

Pinquart M, Sörensen S (2006) Gender differences in caregiver stressors, social resources and health. An updated meta-analysis. J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci 61(1):P33–P45CrossRef

Plantenga J, Remery C, Figueiredo H, Smith M (2009) Towards a European Union gender equality index. J Eur Soc Pol 19:19–33CrossRef

Rabe-Hesketh S, Skrondal A (2005) Multilevel and longitudinal modeling using Stata. Stata Press, Texas

Rabe-Hesketh S, Skrondal A, Pickles A (2004) GLLAMM manual. Berkeley Division of Biostatistics Working Paper Series. Working Paper 160

Rossi A (1993) Intergenerational relations: gender, norms and behavior. In: Bengtson VL, Achenbaum AW (eds) The changing contract across generations. Walter de Gruyter, New York

Rossi AS, Rossi PH (1990) Of human bonding. Parent-child relations across the life course. A. de Gruyter, New York

Rummery K (2009) A comparative discussion of the gendered implications of cash-for-care schemes: markets, independence and social citizenship in crisis? Soc Policy Admin 43:634–648CrossRef

Sainsbury D (1999) Gender, policy regimes, and politics. In: Sainsburd D (ed) Gender and welfare state regimes. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp 245–276CrossRef

Saraceno C, Keck W (2008) The institutional framework of intergenerational family obligations in Europe. A conceptual and methodological overview. Research Report. http://www.multilinks-project.eu/info/papers. Accessed 20 May 2011

Sarasa S (2008) Do welfare benefits affect women’s choices of adult care giving? Eur Sociol Rev 24:37–51CrossRef

Sarkisian N, Gerstel N (2004) Explaining the gender gap in help to parents: the importance of employment. J Marriage Fam 66:431–451CrossRef

Savundranayagam MY, Montgomery RJV, Kosloski K (2011) A dimensional analysis of caregiver burden among spouses and adult children. Gerontologist 51(3):321–331CrossRef

Schneekloth U, Leven I (2002) Hilfe- und Pflegebedürftige in Privathaushalten in Deutschland. Im Auftrag des Bundesministeriums für Familie, Senioren, Frauen und Jugend. Infratest Sozialforschung, München

Snijders TA, Bosker RJ (2004) Multilevel analysis. An introduction to basic and advanced multilevel modeling, repr edn. Sage, London

Spitze G, Logan JR (1989) Gender differences in family support: is there a payoff? Gerontolist 29(1):108–113CrossRef

Suitor J, Pillemer K (2006) Choosing daughters: exploring why mothers favor adult daughters over sons. Sociol Perspect 49(2):139–161CrossRef

Szydlik M (2008) Intergenerational solidarity and conflict. J Comp Fam Stud 39(1):97–11

Timonen V, Convery J, Cahill S (2006) Care revolutions in the making? A comparison of cash for care programmes in four European countries. Ageing Soc 26:455–475CrossRef

Ungerson C (2004) Whose empowerment and independence? A cross-national perspective on ‘cash for care’ schemes. Ageing Soc 24(2):189–212CrossRef

van Oorschot W, Opielka M, Pfau-Effinger B (2008) Culture and welfare state. Values and social policy in comparative perspective. Edward Elgar, Cheltenham

Walker AJ, Pratt CC, Eddy L (1995) Informal caregiving to aging family members: a critical review. Fam Relat 44(4):402–411CrossRef

Title: Gendered support to older parents: do welfare states matter?
Authors: Tina Schmid
Martina Brandt
Klaus Haberkern
Publication date: 01-03-2012
Publisher: Springer Netherlands
Published in: European Journal of Ageing / Issue 1/2012
Print ISSN: 1613-9372
Electronic ISSN: 1613-9380
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10433-011-0197-1

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on medication adherence

Springer Medicine

Gendered support to older parents: do welfare states matter?

Abstract

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on medication adherence

Springer Medicine

Abstract

Please log in to get access to this content

Other articles of this Issue 1/2012

Transitions in formal and informal care utilisation amongst older Europeans: the impact of national contexts

Population ageing in Central and Eastern Europe and its demographic and social context

Learning you are “at risk”: seniors’ experiences of nutrition risk screening

Erratum to: Gendered support to older parents: do welfare states matter?

Decomposing differences in utilization of health services between depressed and non-depressed elders in Europe

The European Journal of Ageing in the European Year for Active Ageing