Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-94fs2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T22:14:07.024Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Elasticity of care networks and the gendered division of care

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 January 2014

WILCO KRUIJSWIJK ,
BARBARA DA ROIT  and
MARCEL HOOGENBOOM
WILCO KRUIJSWIJK
Affiliation:
MOVISIE, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
BARBARA DA ROIT*
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
MARCEL HOOGENBOOM
Affiliation:
Faculty of Social Sciences, Utrecht University, The Netherlands.
*
Address for correspondence: Barbara Da Roit, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Amsterdam, OZ Achterburgwal 185, 1012 DK Amsterdam, The Netherlands E-mail: B.daRoit@uva.nl
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The gender gap in family care-giving is an established research finding: men dedicate less time to care-giving and provide specific gendered types of help. This article argues that in order to grasp men's contribution to care arrangements one should recognise the multifaceted nature of care and examine care networks beyond the ‘care receiver–primary care-giver’ dyad with a dynamic perspective. A qualitative analysis of the care networks of three large Dutch families with an older parent in need of care confirms the greater involvement of women in care-giving and men's tendency to provide specific types of care. However, men also contribute to the elasticity and stability of the care arrangement by filling temporary gaps and supporting the female care-givers. This article puts forward the idea that men's contribution is in turn a factor in the perpetuation of the gendered structure of care-giving.

Keywords

family care-givingcare networksgenderfrail older persons
Type
Articles
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 35 , Issue 4 , April 2015 , pp. 675 - 703
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Albertini, M., Kohli, M. and Vogel, C. 2007. Intergenerational transfers of time and money in European families: common patterns, different regimes? Journal of European Social Policy, 17, 4, 319–34.Google Scholar
Atkinson, J. 1984. Flexibility, Uncertainty and Manpower Management. IMS Report No. 89, Institute of Manpower Studies, Brighton, UK.Google Scholar
Betts Adams, K. 2006. The transition to caregiving: the experience of family members embarking on the dementia caregiving career. Journal of Gerontological Social Work, 47, 3/4, 3–29.Google Scholar
Brody, E. M. 2004. Women in the Middle: Their Parent-care Years. Springer, New York.Google Scholar
Brody, E. M. and Schoonover, C. B. 1986. Patterns of parent care when adult daughters work and when they do not. Gerontologist, 26, 4, 372–81.Google Scholar
CBS/SISWO 1979. Monografieën Volkstelling 1971, 18: Huishouden, Huwelijk en Gezin. Staatsuitgeverij, The Hague, The Netherlands.Google Scholar
Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek 2009. Nederland is Europees kampioen deeltijdwerken. Available online at www.cbs.nl/nl-NL/menu/themas/dossiers/eu/publicaties/archief/2009/2009-2821-wm.htm [Accessed 5 December 2010].Google Scholar
Colleen, J. L. 1992. Divorced and reconstituted families: effects on the older generations. Generations, 16, 3, 17–20.Google Scholar
Coltrane, S. 1988. Father–child relationships and the status of women: a cross-cultural study. American Journal of Sociology, 93, 5, 1060–95.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Connidis, I. A. and Kemp, C. L. 2008. Negotiating actual and anticipated parental support: multiple sibling voices in three-generation families. Journal of Aging Studies, 22, 3, 229–38.Google Scholar
Coward, R. T. and Dwyer, J. W. 1990. The association of gender, sibling network composition, and patterns of parent care by adult children. Research on Aging, 12, 2, 158–81.Google Scholar
Da Roit, B. 2010. Strategies of Care. Changing Elderly Care in Italy and the Netherlands. Amsterdam University Press, Amsterdam.Google Scholar
Da Roit, B. 2012. The Netherlands: struggle between universalism and cost containment. Health and Social Care in the Community, 20, 3, 228–37.Google Scholar
Da Roit, B. and Le Bihan, B. 2011. Cash for care schemes and the changing role of elderly people's informal caregivers in France and Italy. In Pfau Effinger, B. and Roostgaard, T. (eds), Care Between Work and Welfare in European Societies. Palgrave, Basingstoke, UK, 177–203.Google Scholar
Dahlberg, L., Demack, S. and Bambra, C. 2007. Age and gender of informal carers: a population-based study in the UK. Health & Social Care in the Community, 15, 5, 439–45.Google Scholar
De Beer, P. 2008. De middenklasse onder druk? In De Kwetsbare Middenklasse. WRR, The Hague, The Netherlands.Google Scholar
De Valk, H. and Schans, D. 2008. ‘They ought to do this for their parents’: perceptions of filial obligations among immigrant and Dutch older people. Ageing & Society, 28, 1, 49–66.Google Scholar
Del Bono, E., Sala, E. and Hancock, R. 2009. Older carers in the UK: are there really gender differences? New analysis of the individual sample of anonymised records from the 2001 UK Census. Health & Social Care in the Community, 17, 3, 267–73.Google Scholar
Dwyer, J. W. and Coward, R. T. 1991. A multivariate comparison of the involvement of sons versus daughters in the care of impaired parents. Journals of Gerontology, 46, 5, 259–69.Google Scholar
Dwyer, J. W., Henretta, J. C., Coward, R. T. and Barton, A. J. 1992. Changes in helping behaviors of adult children as caregivers. Research on Aging, 14, 3, 351–75.Google Scholar
Finch, J. 1989. Family Obligations and Social Change. Blackwell, Oxford.Google Scholar
Finch, J. and Mason, J. 1993. Negotiating Family Responsibilities. Tavistock/Routledge, New York.Google Scholar
Finley, N. J. 1989. Theories of family labor as applied to gender differences in caregiving for older parents. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 51, 1, 79–86.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fisher, B. and Tronto, J. 1990. Toward a feminist theory of caring. In Abel, E. K. and Nelson, M. (eds), Circles of Care. State University of New York, Albany, New York.Google Scholar
Gerstel, N. 2000. The third shift: gender and care work outside the home. Qualitative Sociology, 23, 4, 467–83.Google Scholar
Hansen, K. V. 2005. Not-so-nuclear Families. Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick, New Jersey.Google Scholar
Henz, U. 2009. Couples’ provision of informal care for parents and parents-in-law: far from sharing equally? Ageing & Society, 29, 3, 369–95.Google Scholar
Hequembourg, A. and Brallier, S. 2005. Gendered stories of parental caregiving among siblings. Journal of Aging Studies, 19, 1, 53–71.Google Scholar
Horowitz, A. 1985. Sons and daughters as caregivers to older parents: differences in role performance and consequences. Gerontologist, 25, 6, 612–7.Google Scholar
Ingersoll-Dayton, B., Neal, M. B., Ha, J.-H. and Hammer, L. B. 2003. Collaboration among siblings providing care for older parents. Journal of Gerontological Social Work, 40, 3, 51–66.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kahn, J. R., McGill, B. S. and Bianchi, S. M. 2011. Help to family and friends: are there gender differences at older ages? Journal of Marriage and the Family, 73, 1, 77–92.Google Scholar
Katz, S., Ford, A. B., Moskowitz, R. W., Jackson, B. A. and Jaffe, M. W. 1963. Study of illness in the aged – the index of ADL – a standardized measure of biological and psychosocial function. Journal of the American Medical Association, 185, 12, 914–9.Google Scholar
Keating, N., Otfinowski, P., Wenger, C., Fast, J. and Derksen, L. 2003. Understanding the caring capacity of informal networks of frail seniors: a case for care networks. Ageing & Society, 23, 1, 115–27.Google Scholar
Keith, C. 1995. Family caregiving systems: models, resources, and values. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 57, 1, 179–89.Google Scholar
Knijn, T. C. M. and Liefbroer, A. C. 2006. More than kind: instrumental support in families. In Dykstra, P. A., Kalmijn, M., Knijn, T. C. M., Komter, A. E., Liefbroer, A. C. and Mulder, C. H. (eds), Family Solidarity in the Netherlands. Dutch University Press, Amsterdam, 89–106.Google Scholar
Lawton, M. P. and Brody, E. M. 1969. Assessment of older people: self-monitoring and instrumental activities of daily living. Gerontologist, 9, 3, 179–86.Google Scholar
Lin, I.-F. 2008. Mother and daughter reports about upward transfers. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 70, 3, 815–27.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mailick, M. and Wailing Li, L. 2000. The dynamics of caregiving: transitions during a three-year prospective study. The Gerontologist, 40, 2, 165–78.Google Scholar
Mandemakers, J. J. and Dykstra, P. A. 2008. Discrepancies in parent's and adult child's reports of support and contact. Journal of Marriage and Family, 70, 2, 495–506.Google Scholar
Marks, N. F. 1996. Caregiving across the lifespan: national prevalence and predictors. Family Relations, 45, 1, 27–36.Google Scholar
Matthews, S. H. 1987. Provision of care to older parents: division of responsibility among adult children. Research on Aging, 9, 1, 45–60.Google Scholar
Matthews, S. H. and Rosner, T. T. 1988. Shared filial responsibility: the family as the primary caregiver. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 50, 1, 185–95.Google Scholar
Matthews, S. H., Adamek, M. E. and Dunkle, R. E. 1993. Research on older families when more than one member responds: producing and interpreting findings. Journal of Ageing Studies, 7, 2, 215–28.Google Scholar
Miller, B. and Cafasso, L. 1992. Gender differences in caregiving: fact or artifact? Gerontologist, 32, 4, 498–507.Google Scholar
Moore, G. 1990. Structural determinants of men's and women's personal networks. American Sociological Review, 55, 5, 726–35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Navaie-Waliser, M., Spriggs, A. and Feldman, P. H. 2002. Informal caregiving: differential experiences by gender. Medical Care, 40, 12, 1249–59.Google Scholar
Portegijs, W., Cloïn, M., Keuzenkamp, S., Merens, A. and Steenvoorden, E. 2008. Verdeelde Tijd: Waarom Vrouwen in Deeltijd Werken. SCP, The Hague, The Netherlands.Google Scholar
Rempel, G. R., Neufeld, A. and Kushner, K. E. 2007. Interactive use of genograms and ecomaps in family caregiving research. Journal of Family Nursing, 13, 4, 403–19.Google Scholar
Rosenthal, C. J., Martin-Matthews, A. and Keefe, J. M. 2007. Care management and care provision for older relatives amongst employed informal caregivers. Ageing & Society, 27, 5, 755–78.Google Scholar
Sarkisian, N. and Gerstel, N. 2004. Explaining the gender gap in help to parents: the importance of employment. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 66, 2, 431–51.Google Scholar
Sherman, S., Ward, R. and LaGory, M. 1988. Women as caregivers of the elderly: instrumental and expressive support. Social Work, 33, 2, 164–7.Google Scholar
Sims-Gould, J. and Martin-Matthews, A. 2007. Family caregiving or caregiving alone: who helps the helper? Canadian Journal on Ageing – Revue Canadienne du Vieillissment, 26, Supplement S1, 27–45.Google Scholar
Snijders, T. A. B. 2001. The statistical evaluation of social network dynamics. Sociological Methodology, 31, 1, 361–95.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Soldo, B. J., Wolf, D. A. and Agree, E. M. 1990. Family, households and care arrangements of frail older women: a structural analysis. Journals of Gerontology: Social Sciences, 45, 6, 238–49.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Spitze, G. and Logan, J. 1990. Sons, daughters and intergenerational social support. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 52, 2, 420–30.Google Scholar
Steglich, C., Snijders, T. A. B. and Pearson, M. 2010. Dynamic networks and behavior: separating selection from influence. Sociological Methodology, 40, 1, 329–93.Google Scholar
Stoller, E. P. 1983. Parental caregiving by adult children. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 45, 4, 851–8.Google Scholar
Stone, R., Cafferata, G. L. and Sangl, J. 1987. Caregivers of frail elderly: a national profile. Gerontologist, 27, 5, 616–26.Google Scholar
Szinovacz, M. E. and Davey, A. 2007. Changes in adult child caregiver networks. The Gerontologist, 47, 3, 280–95.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Usita, P. M., Hall, S. S. and Davis, J. C. 2004. Role of ambiguity in family caregiving. Journal of Applied Gerontology, 23, 1, 20–39.Google Scholar
Watts, C. and Shrader, E. 1998. How to do (or not to do) … the genogram: a new research tool to document patterns of decision-making, conflict and vulnerability within households. Health Policy and Planning, 13, 4, 459–64.Google Scholar
Wellman, B. 1988. Structural analysis: from method and metaphor to theory and substance. In Wellman, B. and Berkowitz, S. D. (eds), Social Structures: A Network Approach. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 19–61.Google Scholar
Wolf, D. A., Freedman, V. and Soldo, B. J. 1997. The division of family labor: care for elderly parents. Journals of Gerontology: Social Sciences, 52B, 102–9.Google Scholar
Zelizer, V. A. 2005. Circuits within capitalism. In Nee, V. and Swedberg, R. (eds), The Economic Sociology of Capitalism. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey, 289–322.Google Scholar