Second Parenthoods: The Influence of Custodial Care of Children Among African-American Elderly on Their Travel Behavior and Transportation Needs

Details

• Creators:
  Smith, Robert J. ; Hargett, Stella L.
• Corporate Creators:
  Morgan State University ; University Transportation Centers Program (U.S.)
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  African-American Elderly African Americans Aged Blacks Children Elderly Transportation Patterns Grandparents Travel Behavior Household Lifecycle Minority Transportation Needs Assessment Travel Behavior

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• Resource Type:
  Research Paper
• Geographical Coverage:
  United States
• OCLC Number:
  708037078
• Edition:
  Final report
• Corporate Publisher:
  Morgan State University. National Transportation Center
• Abstract:
  The present study was an investigation of the relationship between household lifecycle and travel behaviors and concerns of African-American elderly who are involved in “second parenthoods.” This report defines a second parenthood as an arrangement in which an elderly person has custodial care of a minor who is usually a grandchild or other relative. In these second parenthoods, the elderly are confronted with a host of socialpsychological issues that are reflective of an earlier lifecycle stage wherein the transportation behaviors, concerns, and needs are quite different. The results of the current investigation indicate that this cohort of individuals most often resides in urban areas, has low income, has low educational attainment, and has a host of health-related problems that may affect the travel behaviors necessary for the custodial care of children. While the results often varied, one rather consistent pattern was that households with children, particularly those headed by single females, were quite different from other types of households along a variety of measures related to travel behavior, health, travel concerns, and transportation needs. Female heads of household were more likely than male heads of household to be of low income, have less education, have custody of younger children, have more chronic medical problems, have a greater variety of travel concerns, travel fewer miles, have shorter trip times, and have a medical condition that makes travel difficult and requires special transport. The findings are discussed in terms of the need for special transportation programs that address the special needs of the African-Americans in second parenthoods as well as the need for additional research to elucidate the complexity of this continually expanding cohort.
• Format:
  PDF
• Funding:
  0608-002
• Collection(s):
  University Transportation Centers US Transportation Collection
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:064eecb185666a090d9bfe18a149041da7032ebbec81ea5377efa829a28e33f8
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/39417/dot_39417_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.80 MB ]