The Aging of the Family

Bibliographic Data

ID9769658
AuthorsElaine M Brody (Philadelphia Geriatric Center), Elaine Brody (Philadelphia Fire Department, corresponding author)
Year1978
Volume438
Issue1
Pages13-27
Publication date1978-07-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0002-7162 • E-ISSN: 1552-3349
PublisherSAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/000271627843800103
OpenAlexW1982234100
LanguageEN
Citations received16

A central policy issue is the development of services for older people in the United States, specifically the extent to which families can be expected to continue to provide the bulk of needed services vis-à-vis community responsibility. Though there has been thorough documenta tion of continuing responsible family behavior toward their aged, the development of services provided by the community has been hampered by the myth of widespread family aban donment. Historically, adult children, primarily daughters and daughters-in-law, have provided the vast majority of care services for the old. The oldest segment of the elderly popula tion has been increasing proportionately at a much more rapid rate than the older population as a whole and this trend will continue. Those on whom they depend, therefore, also are older—often in the aging phase of life themselves. The fact that there now exist many of these aging families in which the adult children as well as parent(s) are old serves to reduce family resources for service provision. Another relevant social trend is the increasing entry of women into the work force, a trend which is bound to make them less available as care givers. Though family concerns, caring, and affectional ties have not diminished, the community must develop sup portive services to supplement and buttress the family's ef forts to care for its aged members

Business · Community service · Mythology · Political science · Population · Population ageing · Public relations · Service (business · Sociology · Demography · History · Intergenerational Family Dynamics and Caregiving · Marketing · Medicine · Psychology · Gerontology

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