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CAREGIVING FOR THE ELDERLY FAMILY MEMBERS AS A CHALLENGE FOR MEN – THE HIDDEN AND FORGOTTEN CARERS IN AGEING EUROPE
Abstract
The purpose of our research was to investigate male caregiving via a status of being hidden and forgotten in East-Central Europe, where caregiving itself had only lately been emancipated, and only as provided by women. In Poland and in other European countries the gender bias is clear: men provide less care than women, the care is less intensive and of a different character. By desk research, own research interpretation and literature review, the paper addressed informal, family caregiving towards frail older adults performed by men. We examined the assumption that the family was the prime careholder of the aged as imprinted in European psyche and stereotypical expectations that females became the main caregivers. Yet, the demographic forecast showed that informal caregiving for frail adults was inevitably falling on men, as a result of increasing divorce rates and women’s employment. However, this picture is incomplete, making men forgotten or hidden carers. Major findings of our research were to provide a broader discourse on male caregiving and have positive impact with practical after-effects as well as filling gaps in knowledge in several relevant fields.
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