Differences in the Experiential Well-being of Hispanics and Non-Hispanics Engaged in Elder Care

Abstract

Little attention has been given to how Hispanics differ from non-Hispanics in the well-being they experience while engaging in elder care. This paper uses the 2012 and 2013 American Time Use Surveys (ATUS) and their corresponding Well-being Modules (WBM) to examine how elder care is associated with experiential well-being and how this differs for Hispanic and non- Hispanic caregivers. The sample is limited to regular caregivers for the elderly as defined in the ATUS. Ordered probit models are estimated for several measures of experiential well-being, separately for Hispanic and non-Hispanic subsamples. These measures include how meaningful an activity episode is for a respondent, and how happy, sad, tired, in pain, and stressed they felt during the activity. Standard controls, including health status of the respondent, are included as regressors. Results suggest that, while Hispanics reported a greater psychic benefit (happiness and meaning) when engaging in elder care compared to other daily activities, they also reported higher sadness levels when caring for household members. Although the direct cause of sadness cannot be identified, these conflicting results are consistent with the literature suggesting that, even though Hispanics value collectivistic culture traits such as familism and have positive caregiving examples from family members, they also have weaker support networks and are reluctant to report burden.