Eldercare and work-role conflict: toward an understanding of gender differences in caregiver burden

Abstract

This study investigated gender differences in caregiving tasks, role strains, and resources to account for gender variations in burden among a probability sample of employed, nonspousal caregivers (N = 413). Females were more likely to assist with care provision tasks, to report work role strains, and to experience higher levels of burden than males. After controlling for known sociodemographic dissimilarities in predicting burden, the effect of gender decreased at each step when caregiver tasks, work role strains, and resources were entered into the regression equation. Results suggest that these differences may partially explain the greater negative impact experienced by nonspousal, female caregivers.