Racial/Ethnic Differences in Caregiving Frequency: Does Immigrant Status Matter?

Abstract

With growing diversity in the older adult and caregiver populations, the purpose of the current study is to describe the extent to which elder care frequency varies by race/ethnicity and immigrant/native status using national data from the United States. Using pooled data from the 2011-2014 American Time Use Surveys (ATUS; N = 7,855), we present multinomial logistic regressions of caregiving frequency by race/ethnicity and immigrant/native status and explore whether factors within the caregiving domain (duration of care, number of care recipients, and coresidence) attenuate any observed differences. Compared to non-Latino Whites, non-Latino Black, Mexican-origin, and other Latino caregivers engage in more frequent elder care activities, which is partially attributable to high levels of coresidence among these subpopulations. Although immigrant caregivers, in general, tend to engage in more time-intensive caregiving, for Mexican-origin and other Latino caregivers, U.S.-born caregivers report more frequent elder care provision. More time-intensive and demanding caregiving careers reported by racial/ethnic minority and immigrant caregivers further emphasize the need for culturally competent home- and community-based care options.