Journal article
How does dementia onset in parents influence unmarried adult children's wealth
Social science & medicine (1982), Vol.152, pp.156-165
03/2016
DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2016.01.042
PMID: 26859082
Abstract
There is a growing concern that long-term care (LTC) needs of older adults lead to negative financial consequences for their family members. This paper examines whether the onset of dementia in parents influences wealth change among unmarried adult children regardless of their status as informal caregivers. Longitudinal data from seven waves (1998–2010) of the Health and Retirement Study (1540 person-wave observations) are used to analyze this question. Unconditional quantile regressions demonstrate that as a result of parental dementia diagnosis, unmarried adult children have lower wealth accumulation above the median of the wealth change distribution. These effects are more pronounced for unmarried adult children without siblings. Further, this response is observed to persist in the subsequent period as well. Both losses in labor income and nursing home expenditures may play a role in leading to wealth declines.
•Parental dementia lowers wealth accumulation above the median for unmarried children.•Strongest effects for less wealthy unmarried children.•Effects more pronounced for those without siblings.•Response persists in the subsequent period as well.•Nursing home expenditures and labor income losses may comprise potential mechanisms.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- How does dementia onset in parents influence unmarried adult children's wealth
- Creators
- Kanika Arora - Department of Health Management and Policy, University of Iowa, N220, College of Public Health, 145 N. Riverside Drive, Iowa City, 52242-2007, United States
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Social science & medicine (1982), Vol.152, pp.156-165
- Publisher
- Elsevier Ltd
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.socscimed.2016.01.042
- PMID
- 26859082
- ISSN
- 0277-9536
- eISSN
- 1873-5347
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 03/2016
- Academic Unit
- Health Management and Policy
- Record Identifier
- 9984063137902771
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