An invisible caregiver for visibly older parents: Experiences of (young) adults shared as comments to newspaper articles on advanced age parenthood

Abstract

At the centre of the debate on advanced age parenthood are concerns for the offspring’s well-being. In the few empirical studies available, researchers found that children born to older parents show similar or better cognitive, behavioural and psychosocial outcomes compared to children born to younger parents. Most of these studies examining the children’s perspective are quantitative. This study qualitatively examined the experiences presented by (young) adults who identified as born to older parents offered in response to a selection of newspaper articles on the topic. Performing inductive thematic analysis, we found that positive experiences were often presented as a way to contradict prejudices about advanced age parenthood. Other comments described the visual representation of the older parents’ age as an attribute that created difference and, in some cases, social distance from peers and the outside world in general. Central to the negative experiences was a contrast between the visibility of being a child of older parents and the invisibility of caring for them. Moreover, in a majority of the latter comments, the commenters’ caregiving experiences combined with the social network’s notable lack of understanding and support regarding the caregiving responsibilities were described as adversely affecting their lives. These findings provide more insight into the experiences of (young) adults born to advanced age parents and their potential needs.