The Trade-Off Between Hours of Paid Employment and Time Assistance to Elderly Parents at Midlife

Although the family has traditionally been the primary caregiver for the frail elderly, the rising labor force participation rates of married women may interfere with their historical caregiving responsibilities. This paper explores time transfers to elderly parents and their impact on labor supply for persons at midlife. We estimate simultaneous panel data models of annual hours of paid work and the provision of time assistance to parents for a sample of men and women ages 53-65 in the Health and Retirement Study. Our results indicate that time help to parents substantially reduces labor supply for both women and men.