Affiliation:
1. Brooks School of Public Policy and Sociology Cornell University Ithaca New York USA
Abstract
AbstractObjectiveThis article examines how parent–child geographic proximity changes around the onset of parental health shocks in the United States. Differences in the likelihood of moving closer across social groups are also investigated.BackgroundAdult children often care for older parents with health problems, but this requires relatively close proximity. As families are becoming smaller and many adult children live away from their parents, it is unclear how responsive families will be to older adults' health problems.MethodWe estimate a series of fixed effects and event study models on data from the Health and Retirement Study (2004–2018) to assess changes in parent–child proximity after parents' first onset of cognitive impairment and functional limitations.ResultsWe find robust evidence that parents and children tend to stay close or move closer to each other in response to parent's health declines. Moves occur immediately and in subsequent waves after the onset of health shocks. Reductions in parent–child distance are consistently larger among mother‐daughter dyads, dyads without spouses or multiple children, and non‐Hispanic white families.ConclusionThe geographic availability of adult children to provide care is responsive to parents' needs. After the onset of a serious health condition, most older adults have a spouse or child living close enough to provide care. Parents' and children's lives are dynamically linked, and either or both may relocate to facilitate care.
Funder
National Institute on Aging
Subject
Social Sciences (miscellaneous),Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous),Anthropology
Reference63 articles.
1. American Health Care Association. (2023).State of the nursing home industry: Survey of 524 nursing home providers highlights persistent staffing and economic crisis.https://www.ahcancal.org/News-and-Communications/Fact-Sheets/FactSheets/SNF-Survey-December-2022.pdf
2. Family Caregiver Factors Associated with Unmet Needs for Care of Older Adults
3. Geographic dispersion and the well‐being of the elderly;Bianchi S.;Michigan Retirement Research Center Research Paper,2010