Elderly men make just as good carers as women, new research suggests.
Older males spend the same amount of time looking after their ill spouses as females do, a study found.
Yet young men are not as caring towards their unwell partners as women are, which may be due to them having less time to run errands or do housework due to work commitments compared to their retired counterparts, according to the researchers.
The scientists claim their findings are important due to people living longer and therefore requiring greater levels of care.
Study author Dr Laura Langner, from the University of Oxford, said: ‘With the gender gap in life expectancy closing, and children becoming less available to care for their parents, it is likely that many more men will be called upon to care for their partners.
‘Our findings at least suggest that women won’t have to worry that their partners are not up to the job of caring for them’.
Elderly men make just as good carers as women, new research suggests (stock)
How the research was carried out
The researchers analysed 538 couples from Germany with an average age of 69.
One member of each couple required care from their spouse.
The scientists assessed how many hours the caregivers spent looking after their partners, whether that be responding to their physical needs, running errands or doing housework.
‘Male caregivers are as responsive towards their partner’s illness’
Results suggest men adjust their time just as much as women do when their other halves become unwell.
Perhaps surprisingly, men increase the amount of time they spend on housework and errands more than women when their partners become severely ill.
When a person’s spouse is only relatively unwell, however, women spend more time on housework than men.
Dr Langner said: ‘Our results suggest that gender differences in spousal caregiving in old age are not as pronounced as previously thought.
‘We found that, unlike many previous studies on caregiving in later life – male caregivers were just as responsive towards their partner’s onset of illness as female caregivers.
‘This stands in sharp contrast [to] the division of caregiving (i.e. childcare) and housework in mid-life.
‘There could be a number of reasons for this, but a key factor may be that in later life many people retire and no longer have the responsibility of work, so are able to focus on other priorities – that their spouse may have been doing already.’
Centenarians die in better health than those who pass away 20 years younger
This comes after research released in July last year suggested centenarians die in better health than those who pass away in their 80s or 90s.
People who die aged 100 or older have on average 3.3 health complaints at the time of their passing, a study found.
This is compared to 4.6 ailments in those who pass away in their 80s or 90s, the research adds.
Study author Dr Paul Gellert, from the Charité hospital, Berlin, said: ‘Our results also show that the increase in conditions seen during the last few years of life was lower in centenarians than in those who had died between the ages of 90 and 99 or 80 and 89.’
The researchers did not speculate on why centenarians die with fewer conditions, however, it may be that people require good health in order to reach such an age.