This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

Women in the United States can expect to provide seven years of care over their lifetimes to aging family members or friends—up from six in 2011, University of Michigan research shows.

As of 2023, that amounts to three years more than men, whose lifetime caregiving held steady at four years, according to a new study published in The Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences.

Caregivers help older adults with various tasks, including personal care, household chores, transportation and medical tasks.

"Millions of adults help an older relative or friend manage their daily activities, and the numbers of men and women in this role are growing rapidly in the U.S.," said Vicki Freedman, research professor in the Survey Research Center at U-M's Institute for Social Research. "Despite attention to the growing number of men taking on caregiving responsibilities, the gap in lifetime family caregiving has not closed between men and women in recent years."

Freedman and U-M colleague Crystal Yee To Ng found that this caregiving disparity does not apply to spousal care. Men and women can expect to spend an equal number of years over their lifetimes caring for a husband, wife or partner—averaging about 1.5 years.

However, the gap between women and men extends to other common relationships. Women can expect to provide more than one additional year of care for a parent and several more months for a grandparent.

Source link