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Aging and Intergenerational Supports: Economic and Care Resources Across Generations

Friday, November 14, 1:45 to 3:15pm, Property: Grand Hyatt Seattle, Floor: 1st Floor/Lobby Level, Room: Princess 2

Session Submission Type: Panel

Abstract

Increased life expectancy and an aging Baby Boom generation has led to increased demand for care for older adults (NASEM, 2016). At the same time, decreases in family size and increases in maternal employment and single-parent families increase the potential for grandparents to play important roles, including caregiving, in their grandchildren’s lives (Dunifon, 2012; Luo et al., 2012; Lumsdaine & Vermeer, 2015). These factors and high housing costs have contributed to a dramatic increase in the share of children living with multiple generations (parents and grandparents) (Pilkauskas et al., 2018), particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic (Amorim et al., 2023). Multi-generation households could facilitate the care of both children and older adults. However, how economic and care resources are shared across generations and across family types is not well-understood.


 


The four papers in this interdisciplinary panel offer multiple perspectives on how family care needs and policies affect economic well-being across multiple generations. The authors use a variety of survey data and rigorous methods to draw policy-relevant conclusions, representing the fields of public policy, sociology, economics, and developmental psychology. The first two papers examine multigenerational and social network supports and dynamics across different family types. In the first paper, Wiemers and colleagues use new data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) to examine how social networks step in to provide older adults who lack close relatives with care and financial resources. Gibney and coauthors, in the second paper, use longitudinal data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) to examine patterns of multigenerational co-residence, and particularly, how co-residing with a grandchild affects older adults’ employment and earnings. The final two papers examine how social policy and macroeconomic conditions affect economic well-being among multiple generations. In the third paper, Harvey and Perkins investigate the direct impacts of Social Security benefits on recipients as well as the indirect benefits for other members of shared or multigenerational households. Finally, Engle and Shen examine how the Great Recession affected the availability and use of professional and informal family care. Together, the findings from these studies will shed light on the caregiving and economic resources of aging individuals and multigenerational households, and how life events, macroeconomic conditions, and public policy, and economic downturns affect these resources.


 


Our two discussants, Lucie Schmidt and Mariana Amorim, will provide complementary insights. Schmidt is the Robert A. Woods Professor of Economics at Smith College, with expertise in labor and health economics and economics of the family. Amorim is an assistant professor of sociology at Washington State University, with expertise in social demography, particularly complex living arrangements and intergenerational financial support. Together, they will provide insight into how the papers inform employment and caregiving policies using both economic and sociological perspectives, and discuss implications for future research.

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