The Aging of the Family

A central policy issue is the development of services for older people in the United States, specifically the extent to which families can be expected to continue to provide the bulk of needed services vis-à -vis community responsibility. Though there has been thorough documenta tion of continuing responsible family behavior toward their aged, the development of services provided by the community has been hampered by the myth of widespread family aban donment. Historically, adult children, primarily daughters and daughters-in-law, have provided the vast majority of care services for the old. The oldest segment of the elderly popula tion has been increasing proportionately at a much more rapid rate than the older population as a whole and this trend will continue. Those on whom they depend, therefore, also are older—often in the aging phase of life themselves. The fact that there now exist many of these aging families in which the adult children as well as parent(s) are old serves to reduce family resources for service provision. Another relevant social trend is the increasing entry of women into the work force, a trend which is bound to make them less available as care givers. Though family concerns, caring, and affectional ties have not diminished, the community must develop sup portive services to supplement and buttress the family's ef forts to care for its aged members.