The Daughter Trap: Taking Care of Mom and Dad... and You » (First Edition)

LAUREL KENNEDY is a nationally recognized expert on Boomer issues. Founder of the Boomer consulting firm Age Lessons, she has also worked as a senior executive with Edelman Worldwide and Ketchum for clients like Kraft, Kellogg, Pepsi, and Sara Lee. Kennedy has appeared on national television including CNBC and Comcast TV. She’s appeared as an expert witness in the Superior Courts, and as speaker before numerous industry and employer groups. She has won dozens of awards for her work, including the National Telly and Silver Anvil awards. She lives in Chicago.

In the tradition of The Feminine Mystique and Backlash, a groundbreaking look at a social cyclone heading straight for Boomer women

Twenty-five percent of Baby Boomers now have a senior parent living with them, and almost a third of American workers care for their parents. But what no one has pointed out, until now, is that Boomer eldercare responsibilities usually fall on the daughters, who are also often caught between the competing demands of a working spouse, school-aged kids and a full-time career.

The Daughter Trap is the first book on the market to simply say it like it is: women get stuck in the caretaker role—whether they like it or not; and whether they’re prepared for it or not. The author shows how this happens over and over again and explores why women let it happen. Drawing on years of original research, as well as interviews with business leaders and the personal stories of individual women, The Daughter Trap not only identifies the problem but also provides concrete and actionable solutions with takeaway lessons readers can apply to their own lives.

Publishers Weekly

Is caring for elderly parents the responsibility of families, government, nonprofit groups, religious organizations, business, the community—or all of the above? Kennedy, founder of the Boomer consulting firm Age Lessons, says “all of the above” in this scattershot polemic, not quite a call to arms and not quite a practical guide for adults facing the problems of helping older parents near the end of life. The author's argument that daughters, or daughters-in-law, are the primary caregivers for elderly parents, is contradicted by a Met Life survey she cites showing that 40% of caregivers are men; as well, she devotes a chapter to sons who provide care. Kennedy asserts that the women who fought for child-care services 30 years ago should now form a movement for elder care, yet that child care movement was far less successful than she claims. Most of the book argues points that are already obvious to caregivers, yet the part of her case that is aimed more at policymakers is too thin to be persuasive. Her practical suggestions are scattered and often dependent on persuading businesses to support caregiving employees. (Apr.)