KINKEEPING AND DISTRESS - GENDER, RECIPIENTS OF CARE, AND WORK-FAMILY CONFLICT

This article examines kinkeeping and its relationship to distress. We document the extensive kin work-its breadth (number of kin helped) and depth (hours spent helping them)-performed especially by women but also by men. In support of a structural hypothesis, findings show that the breadth (but not depth) of kinkeeping is associated with depression for both women and men. In support of a normative hypothesis, analyses show that less normative kinkeeping increases distress while more normative obligations, such as caring for parents, may actually yield gratification. We find that role conflict-the interference of kinkeeping with both paid work and household obligations-helps explain the relationship of kinkeeping to distress.