FAMILY CARE OF ELDERLY PARENTS AND GENDER DIFFERENCES IN SLOVENIA

Although adult children are the most feminised group of family carers, and care of the aged parents remains the area of the most tenacious gendered divison of labour, the problem of gender inequality in the care for parents has not been seriously foregrounded both in the studies in gender equality and family care as well as in social policies. Based on data from the representative study on the users of social in-home care and their family carers the article examines gender structure of family carers in Slovenia. The findings show that daughters care for parents regardless of diverse circumstances, while the sons mainly engage in it, when living in common household with their parents, and depending on the level of resources with which they dispose (lower education, lower income). Moreover, gender differences are also obvious in the intensity of help offered with the Activities of Daily Living and Instrumental. Activities of Daily Living with daughters carrying out both kinds of care more intensely than sons. Empirically identified differences between the genders can be explained by the ideology that views women as carers and that has spreaded to the level of aging policies and gender division of labour (househould work, care for children) that has spread to the field of family care for parents.