A labor of love or labor itself - Care work among adult brothers and sisters

Although many have examined care work within families, few have assessed caregiving among adult brothers and sisters. Based on original data, this article lends a multifaceted view of sibling care work by examining the amount and kind of help adults provide to all siblings in their family and the manner in which the social characteristics of sibling care providers, recipients, their shared relationship, and the family of origin shapes caregiving. The authors found that the vast majority of adults provide a wide range of care to their siblings on a yearly, even monthly basis. Gender, age, and social class shape sibling help, whereas race exerts little effect. Unmarried parents receive significantly less help than do their married and childless counterparts. Finally, sibling care work depends on family context: Having a living parent facilitates caregiving among siblings, whereas greater family size forces adults to act judiciously about what and to whom they give.