Help to Family and Friends: Are There Gender Differences at Older Ages?

This paper uses recent data from the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study (N = 5,220) to explore gender differences in the extent to which adults in their 50s and 60s provide informal help to their adult children, elderly parents and friends We find that both men and women report very high levels of helping kin and nonkin alike, though women do more to assist elderly parents and women provide much more emotional support to others than do men. Men provide more assistance than do women with "housework, yard work and repairs." As they retire from the workforce, married men become significantly more involved in the care of their grandchildren, virtually eliminating any gender difference by the time they are in their 60s.