The Impact of Informal Care Giving on Labor Force Participation by Rural Farming and Nonfarming Families

Using data from the National Survey of Families and Households, 1987, this study contrasts urban versus rural, and farm versus rural nonfarm informal care givers of the elderly and disabled to illustrate the conflicts that each group experiences when combining work and care giving. Women are the primary care givers in both rural and urban areas. Rural care givers spent more time providing care than urban caregivers, whether the dependent resided in the care giver's home or elsewhere in the community. A moderate difference existed in the number of hours care givers spent at work, although the rural care giver's spouses worked significantly more hours than urban spouses. Rural nonfarm care givers spent more hours caring for individuals residing in their communities, while farm caregivers spent the most time in household‐related activities when caring for someone in their homes. In‐home activity decreased the number of hours spent at work, while community care giving did not.