Sarah E. Patterson

We investigate how the type of caregiving arrangement is associated with older Americans’ outcomes. We use the Health and Retirement Study (2004–2018) and discrete-time event history analysis to assess the odds of institutionalization or death over a 14-year period among older adults with limitations in Activities of Daily Living (ADLs; e.g., bathing). We consider caregiving arrangements as conventional (i.e., spouse or adult child), unconventional (e.g., extended family, employee, friend), or self-directed (i.e., no caregiver). We find a “care paradox” in that self-directing one’s own care was associated with a lower risk of institutionalization or death compared with having conventional care (spouse/adult caregiver) and unconventional care (employee). Relative to conventional care, having an employee caregiver was associated with increased risk of institutionalization. Findings are still observed when controlling for level of impairment and various health-related factors. More research is needed to understand older adults who self-direct their own care.

Objective This brief study examines support for co‐residence (i.e., aging parents living with their adult children), and how age predicts support for this belief considering the rapidly aging US population. Background Co‐residence, a form of intergenerational transfer between family members, can help facilitate care for aging parents as well as help older adults age in the community. Support for this type of co‐residence was on the rise in the 1970s and 1980s. Method Support for co‐residence of older adults living with their adult children is estimated using 36,843 responses from the U.S. General Social Survey from 1973 to 2018. Descriptive analyses, logistic regression, and decomposition analyzes are used to test explanatory factors in trends, focusing on differences for older (age 65 and older) versus younger (under 65) respondents. Results Older adults are less supportive than younger adults of co‐residence even as support has generally increased across time. Decomposition results show that a little over half of the difference between younger and older adults is explained by cohort replacement, with two‐fifths of the difference unexplained by social or demographic factors. Conclusion Findings suggest that although cohort replacement has contributed to an attitude shift over time, important age differences in attitudes remain. Older adults are less supportive of co‐residence than younger adults.