Relative Contributions of Help by Employed and Nonemployed Sisters to Their Elderly Parents

The relationship between daughters' employment status and involvement in the provision of services to old parents was examined using information collected from 50 pairs of sisters whose employment status differed. The Wilcoxon matched-pairs, signed-ranks test was used to assess whether employment status affected perceptions of parents' needs, relative contributions to parents, and relative contributions when parents' health status was poorer. Nonemployed sisters contributed relatively more tangible services than their employed sisters when parents' health status was poorer. Qualitative analysis of the interviews indicated that although nonemployed sisters usually took disproportionate responsibility for medical appointments and day-time emergencies and care, employed sisters were expected to contribute in other ways. That the significance of individual attributes of family members makes sense only within the family context is stressed.