HOW DOES THE CARE GIVER/RECEIVER RELATIONSHIP AFFECT THE HOURS SPENT ON CARING FOR SENIOR CITIZENS IN CANADA?

Abstract

This study examines the hours of care giving provided to senior citizens in Canada using the 2007 General Social Survey. Using Heckman’s 2 Stage Correction to correct for sample selection bias, we find that care givers spend the most time caring for their spouses. However, women spend fewer hours caring for their spouses than men. This could be because women have a longer life expectancy than men, and therefore fewer women than men are actually providing care to a spouse. However, women spend more time caring for their parents than men do. Also, caregivers spend positive hours caring for a sibling of the same gender, but fewer hours caring for a sibling of the opposite gender than they do caring for non-immediate family members.