In this essay, analyzing the “daughter track” of daughter-provided elder care, through feminist philosopher Lisa Tessman's “burdened virtues” framework, I examine the ethical questions surrounding gender, sacrifice, and elder care on the daughter track, particularly concerning contexts of virtue and necessity. Second, I examine how Tessman's “burdened virtues” framework applies to the “daughter track” situation, particularly regarding virtues born of necessity. Third, I examine some wider legal and social justice issues that remain unresolved in eldercare provision by daughters. Finally, I conclude with some reflections on the “daughter track” as a law and religion issue and how law, in particular, might better support women in being not only “dutiful daughters,” but “graceful pillars,” in the care of their elders.

This paper discusses several changes in mother-daughter relationships in Turkey and their association with changing social conditions. It is based on in-depth interviews with 30 older mothers and their adult daughters. As a country experiencing rapid urbanisation, westernisation, military coups and economic crises, Turkey provides an increasingly changing setting for the investigation of inter-cohort changes in inter-generational relationships. Most of the mothers in the study were born during the 1930s, soon after the foundation of the Turkish Republic. They grew up during an era of material scarcity, restrictive social norms and few opportunities for advancement, and lived in a relatively homogeneous and stable social context. Most of the daughters were born during the 1950s; they grew up at a time of rapid social change and political turmoil but relative material abundance, and were exposed to consumerism and individualistic values that emphasised personal achievement and independence. The ideals and opportunities of the mothers’ youth conflicted with those presented to their children, and the goals of and approaches to parenting became unstable and a source of anxiety. The daughters were caught between their parents’ and their children's demands, which produced conflicts between their ideals and reality, and many experienced internal and inter-personal conflicts. Both mothers and daughters attributed differences in their personalities and parenting styles to the changing times.

The purpose of this article is to analyse with longitudinal data from Norway the caring activities of sons and daughters who were the primary care-giver to a parent aged 80 or more years. The study sample consists of the 227 offspring care-givers in the Larvik study, which examined the illnesses and disabilities and the informal and formal care received until their deaths of all those aged 80 or more years in the town's population in 1981. Prospective and retrospective data were collected from that year about the health, functional losses and formal service utilisation of the older people. After the death of an older person in the study, the next-of-kin was interviewed about the informal care provided by relatives and friends during the same time span. The sequences and content of the care-giving activities differed little for son or daughter care-givers, except during a short escalation phase. The average duration of informal home care was shorter for sons than for daughters, primarily because a minority of the daughters had very long care-giving careers. The duration of the care recipients' stays in acute or long-term care institutions before death did not differ by the gender of the carer. Compared with many earlier studies, few gender differences in offspring care-giving activities were found. The findings suggest that the potential of sons to provide informal care to frail older parents is underestimated in modern societies.