“Traditional gender roles don’t keep men from becoming caregivers,” by Lisa Rapaport, Reuters

“When a spouse became ill, men increased the amount of time they spent on caregiving each week by roughly the same amount as women did, resulting in similar care hours regardless of which spouse was sick, researchers report in The Journals of Gerontology: Series B. For men, the increase was much greater when their wives were seriously ill than when they needed less care. However, 30 percent of male caregivers had outside help, compared with 18 percent of female caregivers. And housework was a different story. Men with ill partners increased their errands and housework by 4.4 hours more each week than women did when their spouses fell ill, the study found, but that was largely because women were already putting in more hours on housework.”

LTC Comment (from Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform):

OK, guys, if she gets sick you not only take on more caregiving, you have to do the laundry, cleaning, vacuuming, etc. as well. If this doesn’t make you think twice about going without LTCI, I guess you’re beyond the pale.

Traditional gender roles don’t keep men from becoming caregivers

#goldencareagent
#caregivers