People Leaving Careers to Take Care of Parents

Posted on November 28, 2005

Our aging demographic and longer lifespan is leading some people to leave their careers and take care of elderly parents. Women are doing this more often than men according to a new article in the New York Times. The Times story even says sociologists are calling the career downsizing trend the Daughter Track.

The story says, "They are embracing a filial role that few could have imagined in their futures and are doing so by choice. In fact, sociologists are beginning to give the phenomenon a name: the Daughter Track, a late-in-life version of the Mommy Track, a career downsizing popular with younger women."

Conditions like Alzheimer's can be very demanding and require many hours of supervision. In many cases caring for the elderly is a full-time job of its own. It doesn't have to be but the problem is many people can't afford to put their parents in a good home where they can get the Alzheimer's care they need. The article says that corporate America is aware of the growing trend but it doesn't say what is being done about it or what can be done.

Meryle Mahrer-Kaplan, vice president of advisory services at Catalyst, told the New York Times, "It's so pressing because you can't plan for it, you can't put it off, and it's not a good-news activity. It weighs people down."

The trend is obviously hard on workers because they have to leave their jobs. It can also be problematic for corporations because it could pull some very good, highly-skilled workers out of the work force, leaving corporations in a bind as they suddenly lose experts.



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