Women as family caregivers: why do they care?

This study was based on in-depth qualitative interviews with 40 francophone Québécois family caregivers of frail elderly or mentally ill relatives and focused on the caregiving relation rather than on the specificities of aging and mental illness. Fourteen factors (love, guilt and duty, women's social identity built around caring, absence of appropriate public or private care alternatives, women's socioeconomic dependence, etc.) emerged from an analysis of informants' accounts of how they came to be the primary caregiver. Data indicate that analyses attempting to understand women's caregiving must take into account the sexual division of labor, its reinforcement through social policy, and how women internalize ideas and norms regarding appropriate gender-role behavior.