This paper uses matched data on the elderly and their children to study
the provision of time by children to the elderly. It develops a Tobit model
as well as a structural model to analyze the determinants of this decision.
The main determinants of the amount of time given to parents appear to be the
parent's age, reported health, and institutionalization status, and the
children's age, health, and sex. Older parents, less healthy parents, and
non-institutionalized parents receive more time from their children, while
younger children, healthier children, and female children provide more time.
In contrast to these demographic determinants, economic variables, such as
children's wage rate and iicome levels, appear to play a rather insignificant
role in the provision of time. In addition, the evidence does not support the
hypothesis that parents purchase time from their children.
*Published: This paper was subsequently published as The Provision of Time to the Elderly by Their Children, Axel Borsch-Supan, Jagadeesh Gokhale, Laurence J. Kotlikoff, John N. Morris, in NBER book Topics in the Economics of Aging (1992)
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