From the ArcaMax Publishing, Parents Newsletter:
http://www.arcamax.com/news/parents/s-347297-726414
LONDON (UPI) -- Many British adult children whose parents divorced
help their aging parents, but stepchildren give less support, a study
found.
Researchers led by Dr. Karen Glaser of King's College London analyzed
data from an annual survey of more than 5,000 British households from
1991 to 2003.
Glaser said parents with health problems are 75 percent more likely to
be helped than those without health problems, and for every extra year
of a parent's age, he or she is 9 percent more likely to receive help
from children not living at the same address.
Curiously, divorced parents get more help from children than if they
are widowed, but both groups receive more help than if they still have
a partner, Glaser said. Parents with more children receive more
support; but stepchildren provide less support.
In 1988, 34 percent of British parents 61 to 69 received regular or
frequent help from their children, but by 2001-2002 the total had
risen to 43 percent.
Forty-four percent of the children said they provide transportation,
32 assisted with shopping, 25 percent helped with house repairs, 17
percent cooked meals and 16 percent helped with bill-paying.