Family Ties (PDF)

While many studies focus on the impact of social change on younger generations, FGamily Ties deals comprehensively with family relationships over a longer period of the life cycle and reveals misconceptions about grown children caring for their aging parents. Glenna D. Spitze and John R. Logan offer conclusive evidence that relationships between parents and their adult children remain intact and challenge other myths of isolation and neglect of the older generation.

The authors reveal that parents are not dependent on help from their grown children, as was previously assumed; in fact they contribute more assistance than they receive until the age of seventy-five. Also, while daughters are still the dominant caregivers, other forms of support like visiting and providing transportation are given almost equally by sons and daughters.

Logan and Spitze also report that even though the day-to-day demands on adult children have increased with the changing economy, very few seem to be torn between these responsibilities and those those of caring for their parents. This book offers reassuring news about the strength of the American family in the midst of social change. Family Ties will be a valuable resource for anyone interested in intergenerational relationships in adulthood.