When Elder Care Is All in the Stepfamily

August 5, 2024

Nurse helping an elderly female patient

(New York Times) – Adult children are less likely to assist an aging stepparent, studies show. A growing “step gap” in senior care worries experts.

Calculating the growth in stepfamilies isn’t simple, but a demographic analysis published last year estimated that about 16 percent of Americans over age 70 have at least one stepchild. Among couples in which one partner is over 50, more than 40 percent do.

This partly reflects the high divorce rate of the 1960s and ’70s, Dr. Carr said, but also the more recent growth of “gray divorce,” followed by remarriage or repartnering. (Read More)