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

摘要

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 social-psychological 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.