ITHACA, N.Y., June 20 (UPI) -- U.S. mothers aged 65 to 75 are almost four times more likely to expect a daughter, rather than a son, to be their caregiver if they become sick or disabled.
Karl Pillemer, professor of human development at Cornell University, and Purdue University sociologist Jill Suitor based their study on in-person interviews with a representative sample of 566 mothers in the greater Boston area. Their study is the first large-scale research to include detailed data about all living children of older people, according to Suitor.
"Surprisingly, however, such factors as children's competing marital or parental roles and responsibilities, their mental health, legal or abuse problems are not related to which child mothers view as their likely future caregiver," said Pillemer.
"Mothers weren't especially concerned about practical aspects of whether an adult child could care for them. They expected care from the child they felt closest to and who had more similar values, even if he or she had serious life problems of his or her own, or had other competing responsibilities."
The findings are published in the August issue of the journal The Gerontologist.
