Three Generations Under One Roof, may Equal Increased Stress and Economic Hardship. Patricia C. Kelley Mr. Randy Baker Eng. 102, Thursday @ 6:00pm November 12, 2008 While many men provide informal care to their elders, traditionally, women have functioned as the caregivers when elderly parents or other family members were in need of assistance. Research has also shown that men are more likely to help with Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (ACDL), such as grocery shopping, writing checks, and mowing the lawn. Alternately, women tend to assist their elders by providing Activities of Daily Living (ADL), such as bathing, dressing, or feeding. Thus, women are more likely to be providing the more arduous and physically draining tasks when caring for their family members. Additionally, women have been shown to spend almost twice as much time as men in care-giving activities (Singleton, 2007). In the past, almost the entire function of the woman in the home was given over to caring either for children or parents. That was her job. Currently, however, women caring for family have more role demands upon them. Not only are they caring for their parents, but they are also often attempting to raise a family, work full-time, and involved in their communities (Singleton, 2006). Additionally, due to longer life expectancies, lower birth rates, and women waiting longer to start families, there is an increased likelihood that childcare and senior care will occur concurrently and that daily stress will increase (Singleton, 2006). According to the Journal of Comparative Family Studies (2005), role strain theory best describes the stress that caregivers experience while caring for their elderly relatives (Singleton, 2006). Role strain theory argues that individuals have a limited amount of time and energy that is competed for by social organizations. This means that the number of various social roles that one occupies, such as caregiver, employee, spouse, and parent,...