Negative and Positive Experiences of Intergenerational Caregiving

Anna M. Hammersmith, Bowling Green State University
I-Fen Lin, Bowling Green State University

Intergenerational caregiving is an important avenue of support in the United States and will only continue to become more prevalent with delays in the transition to adulthood and increases in life expectancy. Past research has shown that caring for a child or parent both bear associations with positive and negative aspects of well-being, yet, no study to date has investigated whether caring for older adults is a more positive or negative experience than caring for children. This study uses the 2012 and 2013 rounds of the American Time Use Survey to simultaneously investigate how the provision of care to children or parents is associated with positive and negative aspects of well-being. Preliminary results suggest that providing care to parents and children is associated with similar levels of positive experiences, such as feelings of happiness and meaningfulness, but it has different associations with negative experiences, such as pain, tiredness, and sadness.