Too Much Breaks the Bag. Health Consequences of Combining Grandparental Childcare with Other Caregiving Roles

Bruno Arpino, Pompeu Fabra University
Madelin Gomez-Leon, RECSM, Pompeu Fabra University

This study focuses on understanding the effect of combining grandchild care with other care roles on the health of carers who are aged 50 to 84. Previous research investigating the health consequences of multiple role commitments among older adults found mixed evidence, with most studies being predominantly cross-sectional. From a longitudinal perspective, this study uses individual-level data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) to understand how being a caregiver for multiple individuals affects health, measured as Depressive Symptoms and Quality of Life. We estimate linear regression models and logistic regressions for men and women separately to investigate how different health outcomes are affected by multiple care roles. We find a high prevalence of provision of support among individuals age 50-84, with almost half of women and around one third of men providing some form of care. While multiple caregiving roles are less common, is important to understand their combined effect on the health of the caregivers. We found that the positive effect on health of providing grandchild care is offset by the combined effect of grandchild care with caring for others in the case of women.

Presented in Poster Session 2