The researchers encountered a few surprises when they examined who provided which types of help to whom in four categories — transportation; babysitting for grandchildren; housework, yard work, and repairs; and advice, encouragement, and emotional support. The conventional wisdom is that "when it comes to household work, women do it and men do not," said Bianchi. But overall more men than women reported doing household work for others, likely in the form of yard work and repairs.
Among people in their 50s with aging parents, more men said they helped their parents with household work than women did. Bianchi suggested that aging parents may be living in their own homes and able to manage daily household chores. The kinds of help they needed were "things guys do like snow shoveling and gutter cleaning," she said. This periodic assistance provided by sons and sons-in-law may be allowing many older people to live independently, she said. By age 65, more women were providing household help to aging parents than men.
Not surprising, more women than men reported babysitting for grandchildren. But as men moved into their 60s, the gap between men and women narrowed, and considerably more men reported caring for their grandchildren. Bianchi theorized that the grandchildren were older and men might have been more comfortable caring for them, or retired men watched their grandkids together with their wives.
Similar and higher-than-expected shares of both men and women reported providing transportation for others. Bianchi commented that taking people places and waiting for them, such as to a doctor's appointment or shopping, is something a lot of people do for others.
An interesting finding in the study was that men consistently reported helping more people in more ways after they retired in all categories except emotional support and encouragement to friends, neighbors, and co-workers. Bianchi speculated that this might have been a result of men coaching work colleagues, support that ceased when they were no longer employed.
View webcast, "Gender and Intergenerational Transfer of Time Later in Life," Suzanne Bianchi (Time: 45 min)
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