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Class, caring and disability: evidence from the British Retirement Survey

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 August 2002

KAREN GLASER
Affiliation:
Age Concern Institute of Gerontology, King's College London.
EMILY GRUNDY
Affiliation:
Centre for Population Studies, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London.

Abstract

There has been an increasing interest in the caring responsibilities of middle generation individuals as numerous studies have noted the continuing family obligations of people in later life. Employing data from the United Kingdom Office of National Statistics Retirement Survey of 1988/89, we examined social class differentials in the provision of care by 55–69 year olds. Our results show few social class differences in the provision of co-resident care to a parent (among those aged 55–69 in 1988/89 with at least one living parent), but significant social class differences in the provision of care to a spouse. Working class individuals were more likely to be caring for a spouse than their middle class counterparts because of the higher prevalence of disability among this group.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 2002 Cambridge University Press

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